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MEMORIAL 


SEMI-CENTENNIAL  ANNIVERSARY 


AMERICAN  Colonization  Society, 


CELEBRATED  AT  WASHINGTON, 


JANUARY    15,    1867. 


WITH     DOCUMENTS     CONCERNING     LIBERIA. 


WASHINGTON: 

COLONIZATION   SOCIETY   BUILDING. 

MDCCCLXVII. 


PUBLISHED  BY  ORDER  OP  THE   BOARD  OE  DIRECTORS. 


BOSTON  : 
COKNIIII-L   ritESS.      GEO.   C.    RAND   <fe   AVERV. 


PREFACE. 


The  Board  of  Directors  of  the  American  Colonization  So- 
ciety, at  their  meeting  holden  at  Washington,  Jan.  17,  1866, 
appointed  William  V.  Pettit,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia,  the  Hon. 
D.  S.  Gregory,  of  New  Jersey,  the  Rev.  John  Orcutt,  D.D., 
one  of  the  Secretaries  of  the  Society,  and  William  Tracy, 
Esq.,  of  New  York,  "  to  act  in  co-operation  with  the  Execu- 
tive Committee,  in  making  arrangements  for  the  semi-centen- 
nial anniversary  of  the  Society."  In  consultation  with  them, 
the  Executive  Committee  made  the  arrangements  according 
to  which  the  exercises  of  the  Fiftieth  Annual  Meeting  of  the 
Society,  Jan.  15,  1867,  were  conducted. 

At  their  meeting  the  next  day,  Jan.  16,  1867,  the  Board  of 
Directors  adopted  resolutions,  tendering  their  thanks  to  the 
several  speakers  who  had  addressed  the  Society  the  previous 
evening,  and  requesting  copies  of  their  addresses  for  publi- 
cation ;  tendering  thanks  to  the  authors  of  the  communica- 
tions received  from  Liberia;  directing  that  the  proceedings 
of  that  evening  be  published  in  a  volume,  in  suitable  style, 
as  a  memorial  of  the  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  the  Society  ; 
and  requesting  the  Rev.  Joseph  Tracy,  D.D.,  to  take  charge 
of  and  superintend  the  publication. 


iv  PREFACE. 

For  the  satisfaction  of  those  who  would  understand  Liberian 
mind  and  character,  the  editor  has  subjoined,  in  an  appendix, 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  Constitution  of  the  Re- 
public of  Liberia,  the  Address  of  the  Convention  that  formed 
the  Constitution,  the  first  Inaugural  Address  of  its  first  Presi- 
dent, and  the  last  Annual  Message  of  President  Warner.  The 
reader  will  readily  perceive,  in  these  documents,  the  results 
of  much  careful  and  successful  study,  but  no  servile  imitation, 
of  American  State  Papers  of  similar  character.  No  candid 
man,  after  reading  them,  can  doubt  the  capacity  of  colored 
men,  with  suitable  training  and  experience,  for  the  manage- 
ment of  public  affairs.  The  reader  will  notice  with  interest 
the  difference  in  style,  as  the  different  occasions  required, 
between  President  Warner's  Address  at  the  Annual  Meeting 
and  his  Annual  Message.  That  Address  is  printed  from  the 
author's  elegant  manuscript,  with  no  correction  except  two  or 
three  evident  slips  of  the  pen.  The  others  are  reprints  from 
Liberian  printed  copies. 

There  is  also  appended  a  list,  complete  so  far  as  is  known, 
of  the  names  of  all  persons  who  have  been  authorized  to  act  as 
chief  magistrates  in  any  of  the  colonies  which  now  constitute 
the  Republic  of  Liberia.  Their  dates  have  been  given,  so  far 
as  they  could  be  ascertained.  In  the  earlier  stages  of  the  en- 
terprise, changes  and  vacancies  from  death,  disease,  and  other 
causes,  were  frequent ;  communications  were  infrequent,  and 
information,  coming  from  agents  worn  down  by  sickness  and 
labor,  often  imperfect  and  indefinite.  Hence,  appointments 
were    sometimes   made    hypothetically,  and  the  time  of  one 


PREFACE.  V 

agent  is  partially  or  wholly  included  within  that  of  another. 
Agents  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States  for  the  care 
of  recaptured  Africans  had  no  authority,  from  that  appoint- 
ment, to  act  as  agents  of  the  Society,  or  magistrates  of  the 
Colony.  Yet,  by  a  mutual  understanding,  the  agents  of  the 
Government  and  the  Society  appear  to  have  performed  each 
other's  duties  when  necessary,  and  often  the  same  person  was 
appointed  to  both  offices.  The  names  of  the  Government's 
agents  are  therefore  included  in  the  list,  but  are  distinguished 
by  a  different  type.  For  similar  reasons,  the  names  of  most 
of  the  physicians  appointed  and  sent  out  in  the  earlier  years 
of  the  Colony  have  been  included. 

And,  finally,  there  is  appended  a  table  of  emigrants  settled 
in  Liberia  by  the  Society,  with  the  year,  month,  and  name  of 
the  vessel  in  which  they  sailed,  and  the  State  from  which 
they  emigrated.  Were  it  desirable,  this  table  might  be  en- 
larged, by  giving  the  name,  age,  occupation,  previous  condi- 
tion as  bond  or  free,  education,  and  religious  profession,  if 
any,  of  every  emigrant ;  but  the  particulars  given  seem  to  be 
enough. 

It  will  be  observed  that  this  table  does  not  include  Afri- 
cans recaptured  from  slave-traders  and  sent  to  Liberia  at  the 
expense  of  the  United  States,  though  many  of  them  were 
delivered  into  the  care  of  the  Society  in  American  ports,  and 
conveyed  to  Liberia  in  the  Society's  vessels. 

In  a  work  like  this,  a  complete  account,  historical  and  statis- 
tical, of  the  Society  and  its  Colony,  could  not  be  given.  It  is 
hoped,  however,  that  the  selection  and  treatment  of  topics  is 


VI  PKEFACE. 

such,  that  the  careful  and  friendly  reader  will  be  able  to  un- 
derstand and  appreciate  the  general  character  of  the  enter- 
prise in  which  the  Society  is  engaged. 

Thanks  are  due,  and  are  cordially  tendered,  to  the  Hon.  J. 
H.  B.  Latrobe,  President  of  the  Society,  and  to  tlie  Hon.  G. 
Washington  Warren,  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  for  valuable 
suggestions  and  advice,  and  to  William  Coppinger,  Esq., 
Corresponding  and  Recording  Secretary,  for  facts  ascertained 
by  careful  and  laborious  researches  among  ancient  records 
and  correspondence. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

Minutes  of  the  Fiftieth  Annual  Meeting      .        .        .        .11 

Address  of  President  Latrobe 15 

Selections  from  the  Ajstnual  Report 21 

Address  of  President  Warner .37 

Dr.  Tracy's  Historical  Discourse 61 

Address  of  Bishop  Clark 105 


APPENDIX. 

Declaration  of  Independence 129 

Constitution  of  Liberia 133 

Inaugural  Address  of  President  Roberts      ....  149 

Annual  Message  of  President  Warner 162 


CONTENTS.  VIU 

PAGE. 

Chief  Magistrates  of  Liberia 177 

Table  of  Emigrants 182 

Cost  of  Colonization 191 

Original  Members  of  the  Society 192 


MEMO  RIAL 


O^    THE 


SEMI-CENTENNIAL    ANNIVERSARY 


American  Colonization  Society. 


MEMORIAL. 


The  Fiftieth  Annual  Meeting  of  the  American  Coloni- 
zation Society  was  holden  in  Trinity  Church,  Washing- 
ton, D.C.,  on  Tuesday,  January  15,  1867. 

The  Hon.  J.  H.  B.  Latrobe,  of  Maryland,  President, 
called  the  meeting  to  order  at  thirty  minutes  past  sev- 
en o'clock,  P.M.  At  his  request,  the  Rev.  R.  R.  Gurley, 
Honorary  Secretary,  invoked  the  divine  blessing. 

The  President,  after  a  brief  address,  called  for  the 
Annual  Report. 

The  Corresponding  Secretary,  William  Coppinger, 
Esq.,  read  portions  of  the  Annual  Report.  He  then 
presented  an  address,  prepared  for  the  occasion  by  His 
Excellency,  Daniel  B.  Warner,  President  of  the  Repub- 
lic of  Liberia,  and  "  Reflections  on  the  Return  of  the 
Anniversary  of  the  American  Colonization  Society,"  by 
Henry  W.  Johnson,  Attorney  and  Counsellor  at  Law  in 
that  republic.  These  could  not  be  read  for  want  of 
time. 

The  Rev.  Joseph  Tracy,  D.D.,  of  Massachusetts,  pre- 


12  AMERICAN    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY. 

sented  and  read  portions  of  a  Historical  Discourse 
on  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Society. 

The  Rt.  Rev.  Thomas  M.  Clark,  D.D.,  of  Rhode  Island, 
delivered  the  Semi-centennial  Address. 

The  Rev.  John  Maclean,  D.D.,  of  New  Jersey,  then 
pronounced  the  benediction,  and  the  Society  adjourned. 

The  addresses  at  the  Annual  Meeting  are  given  in 
their  order  on  the  subsequent  pages. 


ADDRESS 


HON.  JOHN   H.   B.   LATROBE. 


ADDEESS  or  HON.  JOHN  H.  B.  LATEOBE, 


PRESIDENT  OF  THE  AMERICAN  COLONIZATION  SOCIETY. 


Members  of  the>  American  Colonization  Society, 
Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : 

In  calling  the  meeting  to  order,  the  Chair  has  not  for- 
gotten that  the  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  the  American 
Colonization  Society  has  been  reached. 

The  Fiftieth  Anniversary !  Half  a  century  of  exist- 
ence !  And  yet  it  seems  but  a  few  years  since  the 
speaker,  then  a  mere  schoolboy,  attracted  by  the  lights 
of  a  church  in  Georgetown,  peered  at  nightfall  upon  a 
meeting  which  Francis  S.  Key  was  addressing,  and 
where,  in  all  probability,  Mercer  and  Clay  and  Kan- 
dolph  and  Harper  and  Caldwell  and  Worthington 
were  present.  Dim  candles,  it  is  recollected,  in  tin 
sconces,  lighted  up  the  assembly.  To  the  schoolboy's 
intelligence,  the  only  interest  of  the  scene  was  in  the 
familiar  voice  and  the  gathered  crowd.  Of  the  subject 
of  discussion,  nothing  was  understood,  save,  as  re- 
ported at  home,  that  Mr.  Key,  a  well-known  friend,  was 
talking  about  Africa.     Circumstances  fix  this  incident 


IG  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION    SOCIETY. 

in  1816*  half  a  century  ago.  How  idly  would  the 
schoolboy  not  have  regarded  any  promise  then  made 
to  him,  that  he  would  live  to  preside  at  the  semi-cen- 
tennial anniversary  of  the  Society  whose  feeble  be- 
ginnings he  had  just  witnessed  without  comprehending 
them  !  And  now,  how  profoundly  grateful  should  not 
the  recipient  of  so  high  an  honor  be,  not  only  to  those 
whose  choice  gave  him  the  seat  which  he  occupies  to- 
night, but  most  especially  to  Him  by  whose  mercy, 
while  others  younger  and  better  have  fallen,  he  has 
been  spared  to  witness  the  seed,  planted  in  1816,  ger- 
minate, and  send  forth  a  tree,  which,  through  winters  of 
discouragement  and  summers  of  prosperity,  has  grown 
until  it  has  attracted  the  attention  of  the  nations,  and 
has  a  nation  sheltered  beneath  its  branches ! 

Fifty  years !  And  such  years !  Of  what  other  fifty 
years  has  history  told  the  same  wondrous  tale  ?  They 
commenced  while  the  thunder  of  European  wars  and  of 
our  second  contest  with  Great  Britain  still  echoed 
in  our  ears.  Wearied  with  the  march  of  battle,  the 
world  was  resting  and  gaining  strength  for  a  yet 
grander  march,  —  the  march  of  progress.  How  aston- 
ishing the  facts  of  these  fifty  years !  How  extraordinary 
their  developments! 

In  1816,  there  were  but  three  steamboats  on  the 
Hudson,  and  but  three  west  of  the  Alleghanies.  In 
1867,  where  are  they  not?  In  1816,  the  postage  of  a 
letter  from  Washington  to  Baltimore  was  ten  cents ;  to 
Philadelphia,  twelve ;  to  New  York,  eighteen ;  and  to 


ADDRESS  OF  HON.  JOHN  H.  B.  LATROBE.       17 

New  Orleans,  twenty-five.  Now  the  postage  to  San 
Francisco  is  but  three  cents ;  and  the  telegraph  has 
made  communication  with  these  places  as  instantaneous 
as  the  thoughts  to  be  communicated. 

In  1816,  if  the  winds  favored,  a  letter  from  America 
reached  Europe  in  three  weeks ;  if  adverse,  in  six. 
Now,  the  Secretary  of  State  sends  to  our  minister  in 
Paris  what  the  Emperor  of  the  French  receives  within 
the  hour  that  saw  it  written  in  Washington.  In  1816, 
it  was  the  labor  of  days  to  travel  from  the  capital  to 
New  York.  Impatient  at  the  nine  hours  now  occupied, 
the  public  desire  a  still  more  rapid  transit.  Railroads 
cover  the  land  as  with  a  net,  and  are  already  penetrat- 
ing the  wilderness  at  the  rate  of  a  mile  of  construc- 
tion daily,  on  their  route  to  the  Pacific.  In  1816,  we 
were  staggering  under  a  war-debt  of  but  a  few  mil- 
lions. Now  we  are  paying  off  a  war-debt  of  more  than 
two  thousand  millions,  at  the  rate  of  two  hundred  mil- 
lions annually. 

If  to  these  comparisons  were  to  be  added  the  im- 
provements in  science  and  the  arts,  hours  would  be  re- 
quired for  the  enumeration. 

Progress  in  science,  progress  in  art,  progress  in  all 
the  appliances  of  human  comfort,  have  signalized  the 
half  century  whose  close  we  this  night  commemorate. 

But,  of  all  that  has  been  referred  to,  nothing  has 
been  more  grand  in  conception,  more  wonderful  in  exe- 
cution, or  of  more  promising  results,  than  African  colo- 
nization.    Grand   in    conception,  because  it  solves    the 


18  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION    SOCIETY. 

problem  presented  by  the  presence  in  the  same  land  of 
two  races,  both  free,  that  cannot  amalgamate  by  inter- 
marriage. Wonderful  in  execution,  because  with  the 
humblest  means,  without  the  patronage  of  Government, 
and  with  few  better  materials  than  ignorant  free  ne- 
groes and  emancipated  slaves,  it  has  built  up  a  republic 
holding  an  honorable  rank  in  the  family  of  nations, 
with  churches  and  schools,  with  free  institutions  mod- 
elled after  our  own,  and  already  attracting  to  it  the  de- 
scendants of  those  who,  brought  naked  and  helpless 
from  Africa,  acquired  here  the  religion  and  civilization 
with  which  their  children  are  returning,  clothed  as  with 
bright  raiment,  to  their  ancestral  home.  More  promis- 
ing of  results,  because  its  agencies  are  at  work,  not 
for  the  welfare  of  one  people  only,  but  for  two  quar- 
ters of  the  globe  itself,  benefiting  America,  blessing  Af- 
frica;  obviating  in  the  one  an  otherwise  inevitable 
strife,  securing  in  the  other  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy ; 
illuminating  the  latter,  without  diminishing  the  lustre  of 
the  former ;  blessed  of  the  Almighty  in  its  progress, 
and  finding,  in  an  almost  miraculous  success,  encourage- 
ment in  the  belief  that  his  hand  will  support  it  to  the 
end. 


PORTIONS 


FIFTIETH  ANNUAL  REPORT. 


PORTIONS  OF  THE  FIFTIETH  ANNUAL  REPORT, 


KEAD  AT  THE  ANNUAL  MEETING. 


The  American  Colonization  Society  commemorates 
the  Semi-Centennial  Anniversary  of  its  formation. 
Profound  thanks  are  offered  to  God  for  marked  pro- 
gress in  its  noble  work,  and  for  the  wider  field  of  activi- 
ty opened,  and  that  its  labors  during  the  year  just 
closed  have  been  more  extended  and  beneficial  than  for 
many  years  past. 

Since  the  last  meeting,  seven  more  of  the  Vice-Presi- 
dents of  the  Society  have  been  removed.  The  first  who 
was  called  away  was  James  Bookman,  Esq.,  of  New  York, 
a  liberal  giver  to  promote  the  benevolent  enterprises 
of  the  times,  and  a  model  of  Christian  integrity  and 
judgment.  Following  him,  in  rapid  succession,  were 
Lieut-Gen.  Winfield  Scott,  whose  goodness  of  heart 
and  humanity  shone  not  less  brightly  than  his  military 
genius  and  love  of  country  ;  Dr.  Thomas  Hodgkin,  of 
London,  who  spent  his  life  in  the  service  of  his  fellow- 
creatures  of  all  races,  and  was  universally  esteemed  for 
his  consistency  of  character  and  the   utter  unselfishness 


22  AMERICAN    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY. 

of  his  devotion  to  this  and  every  good  cause ;  William 
W.  Seaton,  Esq.,  long  an  active  and  highly-prized  mem- 
ber of  the  Executive  Committee  of  this  Society,"  and  its 
public  advocate  and  defender,  who  has  left  behind  him  a 
bright  example  of  disinterested  benevolence  ;  Gen.  John 
H.  Cocke,  of  Virginia,  for  many  years  spared  as  the 
senior  Vice-President  of  the  Society,  and  who  had  fer- 
vently labored  for  his  servants  by  furnishing  the  facili- 
ties for  their  spiritual  improvement,  and  the  settlement 
of  some,  and  the  preparation  of  others  to  enjoy  their 
freedom  in  Liberia ;  Daniel  Chandler,  Esq.,  of  Alabama, 
justly  held  in  high  esteem  for  his  piety  and  philan- 
thropic character ;  and  Commodore  Robert  F.  Stock- 
ton, of  New  Jersey,  eminent  for  civic  acquirements  and 
naval  renown,  and  for  intrepidity  in  meeting  and  suc- 
cessfully surmounting  the  bitter  opposition  of  the  na- 
tives, and  in  securing  the  territory  upon  which  has 
arisen  Monrovia,  the  capital  city  of  the  Liberian  Re- 
public. 

It  is  fitting  here  to  notice  the  great  loss  sustained  by 
the  Society  in  the  decease  of  John  P.  Crozer,  Esq.,  of 
Pennsylvania,  a  man  of  rare  generous  sympathies  and 
abounding  liberality,  long  identified  with  the  religious 
and  charitable  institutions  of  the  country.  Bound  to 
our  cause  by  the  heroic  dedication  and  sacrifice  of  a 
younger  brother,  —  Dr.  Samuel  A.  Crozer,  who  was  the 
first  agent  and  physician  appointed  by  the  Society,  and 
who  sailed  with  the  first  company  of  emigrants  de- 
spatched to  Western   Africa,  —  he   was    always   much 


FIFTIETH   ANNUAL   REPORT.  23 

interested  in  our  labors  and  progress,  and  frequently 
attended  and  participated  in  the  deliberations  of  the 
Board  of  Directors,  where  he  was  distinguished  by  a 
sound  judgment,  catholic  disposition,  uniform  courtesy, 
and  genuine  kindness.  By  his  will,  he  made  provision 
for  the  promotion  of  the  purposes  of  our  organization 
to  the  extent  of  five  thousand  dollars. 

Death  has  also  removed  from  the  ranks  of  the  pat- 
rons and  efficient  friends  of  the  Society,  Francis  Hall, 
Esq.,  of  New  York ;  William  Crane,  Esq.,  of  Baltimore  ; 
and  Hon.  Abraham  Hanson,  the  first  Commissioner  and 
Consul-General  of  the  United  States  to  Liberia,  whose 
address  at  our  last  annual  meeting  was  full  of  interest 
and  encouragement. 

In  the  departure  of  these  constant  and  able  advo- 
cates of  the  cause  of  African  colonization,  the  members 
and  friends  of  the  Society  are  admonished  of  the  uncer- 
tainty of  all  human  supports,  and  of  the  necessity  of 
arousing  themselves  to  higher  efforts  in  the  light  of  the 
ever-shining  glory  of  these  excellent  and  lamented 
men. 

To  accommodate  the  numerous  applicants  for  passage 
and  settlement  in  Liberia,  and  in  view  of  the  great 
economy  and  pressing  necessity  of  having  a  vessel  of 
our  own,  adapted  to  our  wants,  it  was  determined  to 
purchase,  in  September  last,  the  ship  "Golconda,"  1016 
tons,  or  303  tons  larger  than  the  packet  "  Mary  Caro- 


24  AMERICAN  COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

line  Stevens,"  whose  place  she  takes  in  the  service  of  the 
Society  between  this  country  and  Liberia. 

The  purchase  was  not  effected  until  after  a  thorough 
examination  of  the  markets  for  vessels  on  charter  or  for 
sale.  She  was  secured  at  a  very  reasonable  price  for 
cash.  To  Dr.  James  Hall  is  the  Society  indebted  for  the 
selection,  purchase,  and  fitting  out  of  this  ship. 

The  "Golconda"  was  purchased  and  provisioned  at 
Boston,  and  sailed  thence,  on  Saturday,  Oct.  20,  for 
Charleston,  S.C.,  as  the  nearest  and  most  convenient 
port  for  the  embarkation  of  the  expected  emigrants. 
On  the  afternoon  of  Wednesday,  Nov.  21,  being  the 
first  day  of  high  water  on  the  bar  after  her  arrival  at 
Charleston,  she  was  towed  safely  out  to  sea  and  set  sail 
for  Liberia. 

She  started  with  exactly  six  hundred  emigrants  on 
board,  of  whom  194  were  from  Macon,  Ga. ;  167  from 
Newberry,  S.C. ;  144  from  Knoxville,  Tenn. ;  52  from 
Charleston,  S.C. ;  and  43  from  Columbia,  S.C.  Of  these, 
206  are  to  settle  at  Sinou,  181  at  Carysburg,  155  at 
Cape  Mount,  and  58  at  Cape  Palmas. 

A  large  proportion  of  the  emigrants  are  professors  of 
religion ;  of  whom  it  is  known  that  70  are  Methodists, 
56  are  Baptists,  13  are  Presbyterians,  and  2  are  Epis- 
copalians. Among  them  is  a  regularly  organized 
church,  —  "  The  Macon  Baptist  Church  of  Sinou  County, 
Liberia,"  —  consisting  of  pastor,  two  deacons,  and  twen- 
ty-six members. 

A  high  degree  of  intelligence  is  shown,  in  that  77  can 


FIFTIETH  ANNUAL   REPORT.  25 

read,  20  can  both  read  and  write,  and  2  have  had  the 
advantao-es  of  a  collegiate  education. 

The  trades  or  occupations  are  represented  by  78 
farmers,  33  laborers,  15  carpenters,  13  shoemakers,  9 
bricklayers,  9  blacksmiths,  4  wheelwrights,  3  coopers,  3 
tailors,  2  millers,  2  cooks,  1  iron-moulder,  1  silversmith, 
1  ginmaker,  1  waterman,  1  gunsmith,  1  engineer,  1 
goldsmith,  1  dentist,  and  1  photographer. 

The  "  Golconda "  had  five  cabin  passengers,  among 
whom  are  the  venerable  Rev.  John  Seys,  for  the  past 
thirty  years  identified  with  the  interests  of  Liberia  and 
of  the  cause  of  African  colonization,  now  returning  as 
Minister-Resident  and  Consul-General  of  the  United 
States  to  that  Republic ;  and  Rev.  H.  W.  Erskine,  son 
of  one  of  the  most  estimable  colored  ministers  who  ever 
went  to  the  African  coast,  who  was  educated  in  Liberia, 
entered  the  ministry,  and  is  now  Attorney-General  of 
that  rising  State.  This  was  his  first  visit  to  the  land  of 
his  birth,  made  in  part  to  take  with  him  an  aged  sister 
and  her  husband,  with  their  children,  grandchildren,  and 
great-grandchildren  lately  made  free,  and  now  joyfully 
accompanying  him. 

Since  the  departure  of  the  "  Golconda  "  from  Boston, 
applications  have  been  received  with  the  names  of  78 
persons  at  Winnesboro',  S.C. ;  25  at  Lagrange,  Ga. ; 
78  at  Columbus,  Ga. ;  178  at  Newberry,  S.C. ;  and 
291  at  MuUins  Depot,  S.C:  in  all,  642  for  passage  to 
Liberia.  Companies  are  known  to  be  forming,  each 
promising  to  be  at  least  150   strong,  at  Macon,  Ga. ;  at 


26  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

Florence,  S.C. ;  at  Apalachicola,  Fla. ;  and  at  Newbern, 
N.C. ;  while  smaller  parties  have  applied  from  other 
places,  among  which  may  be  named  Edenton,  N.C,  and 
Albemarle  County,  Va.,  all  hoping  to  set  sail  the  com- 
ing spring  for  "  Fatherland." 

Inquiries  for  information  about  Liberia,  and  how  to 
get  there,  continue  to  reach  the  office  of  the  Society, 
showing  that  multitudes  are  using  the  means,  which 
they  never  had  before,  of  learning  the  actual  condition 
and  real  promise  of  a  country  which  appeals  to  them 
with  its  ancestral  claims,  and  offers  them  such  advan- 
tages as  they  can  hope  to  obtain  nowhere  else  on  the 
face  of  the  earth. 

It  is  to  be  distinctly  understood  that  each  and  all  of 
the  movements  which  resulted  in  the  unusually  large 
emigration  by  the  "  Golconda,"  and  those  just  referred  to, 
were,  and  are,  purely  local  and  spontaneous.  The  peo- 
ple sought  the  Society  in  each  and  every  instance. 

Ought  not  these  people  also  to  be  helped  ?  Shall 
we  close  our  hands  against  those  who  prefer  a  home  in 
Liberia,  and  seek  of  us  the  needful  aid  ?  If  they  desire 
and  choose  to  go  to  Africa,  is  it  not  our  duty  to  aid 
and  encourage  them  to  do  so  ?  Can  we,  in  any  better 
way,  repay  them  for  their  services,  or  make  amends  for 
the  past,  than  by  restoring  them  to  their  long-lost  her- 
itage in  their  ftitherland  ?  And  shall  we  fail  to  supply 
Africa  with  intelligent  Christian  industry  in  the  persons 
of  her  own  offspring  ? 


FIFTIETH   ANNUAL    REPORT.  27 

'•As  teachers,  missionaries,  and  colonies,  they  will  go  self-moved ; 
and  the  waves  of  the  Atlantic,  that  heard  the  wail  and  the  groans 
from  the  hold  of  the  slave-shij),  will  yet  resound  with  the  song, 
the  psalm,  and  the  prayer,  from  the  lips  of  colored  people  re- 
turning to  found  empire  and  Christian  civilization  in  Africa.  How 
vast,  then,  are  the  results  of  the  problem  of  the  colored  people  in 
America!  They  involve  all  sections  and  populations  here,  and  ex- 
tend their  influence  over  two  continents.  Such  a  problem  may 
well  claim  the  sympathy  and  thought  of  the  nation." 

In  his  last  annual  message,  President  Warner  thus 
dwells  upon  the  advantages  which  Liberia  is  offering  to 
the  people  of  color :  — 

"  On  the  subject  of  immigration,  we  cannot  but  feel  a  deep  inter- 
est. Our  need  of  population  is  immediate  and  urgent.  Our  im- 
mense resources  cannot  be  developed ;  the  fruits  of  the  earth, 
spontaneously  produced,  cannot  be  gathered  ;  the  fat  of  the  land 
cannot  be  made  available,  —  simply  for  the  want  of  minds  and  hands 
to  engage  in  the  necessary  operations.  Surely,  with  the  vast  la- 
tent capabilities  of  this  country,  we  have  the  ability  to  become  a 
power  by  no  means  to  be  despised  in  the  agricultural  and  com- 
mercial world. 

"We  have  again  and  again  invited  our  friends  in  the  United 
States  to  come  over  and  help  us  to  fill  up  the  vast  solitudes,  which 
for  centuries  have  remained  uninhabited;  while  they,  in  exile  in 
the  Western  Hemisphere,  are  jostled  and  elbowed  and  trampled 
upon  by  an  oppressive  race.  But  my  hopes  are  as  strong  as  ever, 
and  my  confidence  remains  unshaken  in  the  destiny  of  Liberia. 
She  is  yet  to  be  the  asylum  for  the  oppressed  American  negro,  and 
a  beacon  for  the  guidance  of  the  benighted  tribes  of  this  continent. 
I  may  not  be  able  to  predict  the  methods  by  which  Africa's  exiled 
sons  arc  to  be  restored  to  her  bosom;  but  I  feel  certain  such  an 
occurrence  will  in  some  way  or  other  take  ])lace." 


28  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION    SOCIETY. 

Rev.  Edward  W.  Blyden,  lately  Secretary  of  State  of 
Liberia,  and  now  Fulton  Professor  "of  Languages  in  Li- 
beria College,  on  a  recent  occasion  said  :  — 

"  Any  one  who  has  travelled  at  all  in  Western  Africa,  especially 
in  the  interior  of  Liberia,  and  has  seen  how  extensive  and  beauti- 
ful a  country,  marvellously  fertile,  lies  uninhabited,  with  its  at- 
tractive and  perennial  verdure  overspreading  the  hills  and  val- 
leys, cannot  but  come  to  the  conclusion  that  this  beauteous  do- 
main is  in  reserve  for  a  people  who  are  to  come  and  cultivate  it ; 
and  we  can  see  no  people  so  well  prepared  and  adapted  for  this 
work  as  the  negroes  of  the  United  States. 

"Africa  will,  without  doubt,  be  the  final  home  and  field  of  opera- 
tion for  thousands  if  not  millions  of  them.  And  the  powerful 
agency  that  Avill  thus  be  brought  into  that  land,  — of  family  influ- 
ences, and  the  diversified  appliances  of  civilized  life  in  the  various 
mechanical,  agricultural,  commercial,  and  civil  operations,  will  rap- 
idly renovate  the  spirit  and  character  of  the  Afiican  communities; 
and  whole  tribes,  brought  under  the  jiervading  influence  of  Chris- 
tian principles,  will  be  incorporated  among  us.  And  then  Anglo- 
American  Christianity,  liberty,  and  law,  under  the  j^rotection  of 
the  Liberian  flag,  will  have  nothing  to  impede  their  indefinite 
spread  over  that  immense  continent." 

Liberia  is  gradually  growing  in  the  elements  of  nation- 
al stability.  The  natural  riches  of  that  region  are  enor- 
mous, and  are  such  as,  sooner  or  later,  will  support  a 
commerce  to  which  that  at  present  existing  on  the 
coast  is  merely  fractional.  The  Liberians  own  and  run 
a  fleet  of  "coasters,"  collecting  palm-oil,  cam -wood, 
ivory,  gold-dust,  and  other   commodities,     A  schooner 


FIFTIETH  ANNUAL   EEPOET.  29 

of  eighty  tons  was  built,  costing  ^11,000,  and  loaded 
last  fall  at  New  York,  from  money  and  the  proceeds  of 
African  produce  sent  for  that  purpose  by  an  enterpris- 
ing merchant  of  Grand  Bassa  County.  A  firm  at  Mon- 
rovia are  having  a  vessel  built  in  one  of  the  ship-yards 
of  New  York,  to  cost  $15,000,  which  it  is  expected  will 
be  ready  to  sail  about  the  middle  of  February  next. 

Bishop  Payne,  for  the  past  thirty  years  connected 
with  the  Episcopal  Mission  on  the  West  Coast  of  Afri- 
ca, and  now  temporarily  in  this  country,  thus  describes 
what  he  witnessed  at  Monrovia  on  his  recent  homeward 
voyage :  — 

"  We  enter  Monrovia  Roads,  and  find  two  vessels  at  anchor. 
One,  a  brigantine  of  137  tons,  English  built,  is  owned  by  Dr.  S.  F. 
McGill  and  brothers.  She  is  commanded  by  Captain  Kelly,  Li- 
berian,  and  a  navigator.  The  other  is  a  regular  English  brig,  just 
out,  consigned  to  the  firm  just  named,  with  a  fixll  cargo,  and  to  be 
loaded  entirely  by  them.  Boats  are  passing  rapidly  to  and  from 
the  shore,  loaded  with  palm-oil  and  sugar.  Her  "  lay  days,"  or 
days  for  loading,  are  forty,  but  she  will  be  freighted  in  thirty  days. 
Dr.  McGill  ships  on  board  of  her  thirty  thousand  gallons  palm-oil 
and  twenty-five  thousand  pounds  of  sugar,  from  the  St.  Paul's 
River. 

"Just  as  we  come  to  anchor,  several  boats  come  alongside  the 
bark  '  Thomas  Pope,'  loaded  with  sugar.  It  is  freight  from  Mr. 
Jesse  Sharp,  one  of  the  prosperous  sugar-planters  on  the  St.  Paul's. 
Mr.  Sharp  judiciously  purchased  a  small  steam  sugar-mill  for 
$2,500,  and  paid  for  it  the  first  year.  For  fourteen  days  we  are 
receiving  cargo,  all  from  iNfonrovia.  We  ship  thirty-six  thousand 
gallons  2>alni-oil,  sixty-two  thousand  jxjunds  of  sugar,  near  four- 
teen thousand  pounds  of  cottl-e,  seven  hundred  puunds  of  ivory, 
besides  sundry  smaller  amounts  of  freight." 


30  a:\iekican  colonization  society. 

The  same  devoted  laborer  for  the  redemption  of  Af- 
rica affords  the  following  cheering  account  of  what  he 
saw  of  the  thrift,  comfort,  and  progress  along  the  St. 
Paid's  River,    during    a  trip    made   Friday,  April    20, 

18G6:  — 

"Emerging  from  Stockton  Creek,  we  feel  we  are  in  a  civilized 
country.  On  the  riglit,  in  Lower  Caklwell,  is  the  neat  establish- 
ment of  Mr.  Powers.  Here,  too,  is  a  modest  frame  building,  with 
quite  as  modest  a  congregation,  called  St.  Peter's  Episcopal 
Church.  Proceeding  up  the  river,  we  saw  two  Baptist  and  Meth- 
odist churches,  each  of  brick,  on  either  side  of  the  river.  Just  op- 
posite to  Mr.  Powers's,  on  the  Virginia  side  of  the  river,  is  the  neat, 
home-like  residence  of  Rev.  John  W.  Roberts,  Bishop  of  the  Li- 
beria Methodist  Church.  The  settlement  of  Virginia  here  ex- 
tends back  three  or  four  miles  from  the  river.  Above  Mr.  Rob- 
erts's, we  soon  see  the  fine  brick  houses  of  Mr.  William  Black- 
ledge  and  Rev.  A.  F.  Russell.  ,  Presently  we  come  to  Clay- 
Ashland,  where,  besides  Grace  (Episcopal)  Church,  are  three  others. 
Here  are  many  fine  brick  houses,  the  township  of  Clay-Ashland 
extending  back  four  or  five  miles;  and  now  we  never  lose  siglit 
again  of  cultivated  fields  and  comfortable  brick  houses.  Best 
amongst  these  are  those  of  the  Messrs.  Cooper,  DeCoursey,  An- 
derson, Howland,  and  Washington,  sugar-planters.  By  the  time 
we  reach  the  Gaudilla  farm,  we  have  passed  four  steam-mills,  all 
hard  at  work.  There  are  many  wooden  mills,  besides  those  pro- 
pelled by  steam.  An  intelligent  friend  has  given  us  the  following, 
as  an  approximate  estimate  of  the  sugar  croj)  on  the  St.  Paul's,  in 
1866:  Sharp,  120,000  lbs.;  Cooper,  30,000  lbs.;  Anderson, 
35,000  lbs.;  Howland,  40,000  lbs.;  Roe,  30,000  lbs. ;  sundry  small- 
er formers,  150,000 ;  total,  575,000  lbs.  The  coffee  crop  also  is 
considerable,  though  we  are  not  able  to  state  how  much." 


FIFTIETH  ANNUAL  EEPORT.  31 

Several  of  the  leading  powers  of  the  world  have  re- 
cently given  evidence  of  their  regard  for  Liberia.  By 
order  of  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  a  first-class  Russian 
frigate  made  a  complimentary  visit  in  January  to  Mon- 
rovia. Sweden  and  Norway  also  sent  a  national  vessel 
on  a  similar  errand,  —  the  first  arrivals  of  the  armed 
representatives  of  these  two  northern  European  nations 
in  the  waters  of  the  African  Republic.  The  celebrated 
ship  "  Kearsarge  "  lately  called  on  her  way  home  from 
the  Mediterranean,  —  the  first  American  cruiser  ordered 
there  since  the  beginning  of  the  war.  The  highest 
diplomatic  representative  accredited  to  Liberia  is  from 
the  United  States,  —  the  title  being  lately  changed  to 
that  of  Minister-Resident  and  Consul-General.  Hol- 
land, and  Sweden  and  Norway,  have  created  consulate 
officers  to  reside  at  Monrovia;  and  it  is  expected  that  a 
treaty  of  amity  and  commerce  will  soon  be  concluded 
between  Russia  and  Liberia. 

As  we  close  this  annual  record,  we  turn  our  eyes  to 
survey  the  way  in  which  the  Lord  hath  led  us  this  fifty 
years. 

The  American  Colonization  Society  was  founded  in 
Washington,  D.C.,  Dec.  21,  1816,  by  eminent  individu- 
als from  the  several  States,  memorably  prominent 
among  whom  was  the  Rev.  Robert  Finley,  D.D.  A 
Constitution  was  adopted  at  an  adjourned  meeting  held 
in  the  Hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives  on  the 
"  following  Saturday,"  Dec.  28,  and  officers  elected  Jan. 
1,  1817.     Not  one,  it  is  believed,  of  those  who  took  part 


32  AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

in  these  proceedings,  or  of  the  officers  chosen  at  the 
first  meeting,  is  living  to  witness  its  Semi-Centennial 
Anniversary ! 

The  Society  has  had  five  Presidents,  viz. :  — 

Jan.  1,  1817,  Hon.  Bashrod  Washington. 

Jan.  18,  1830,  Hon.  Charles  Carroll,  of  Carrollton. 

Jan.  20, 1833,  Ex-President  James  Madison. 

Dec.  15,  1836,  Hon.  Henry  Clay. 

Jan.  19,  1853,  Hon.  J.  H.  B.  Latrobe. 

The  whole  amount  of  its  receipts  during  the  fifty 
years  has  been  $2,141,50777;  and  the  State  Coloniza- 
tion Societies  received,  while  acting  in  an  independent 
capacit}^,  as  nearly  as  we  can  arrive  at  it,  $417,399.33; 
making  a  grand  total  of  $2,558,907.10. 

The  Society  has  given  passage  to  11,909  persons  of 
color,  sent  in  147  vessels  or  voyages ;  and,  what  is  a  re- 
markable providence,  not  one  of  the  vessels  with  emi- 
grants on  board  has  been  permitted  to  bew  recked  or 
lost!  Of  these  people,  4,541  were  born  free,  344  pur- 
chased their  freedom,  5,957  were  emancipated  for  the 
purpose  of  going  to  Liberia,  the  status  of  68  is  un- 
known,  346  were  sent,  in  1865,  from  Barbadoes,  W.I., 
and  753  of  the  class  popularly  known  as  "freedmen" 
have  left  this  country  since  the  termination  of  the  war. 
Besides  these,  1,227  have  been  settled  at  "Maryland  in 
Liberia,"  by  the  Maryland  State  Colonization  Society. 
The  total  emigration,  therefore,  under  colonization  au- 
spices and  expense,  has  been  13,136. 

The  Government  of  the  United  States  has  made  the 


FIFTIETH   ANNUAL   REPORT.  33 

settlements  founded  by  the  Society  the  asylum  of  5,722 
recaptured  Africans,  mostly  taken  on  the  high  seas  by 
its  men-of-war. 

The  Society  has  strictly  confined  its  labors  to  the 
"  colonizing,  with  their  own  consent,  the  free  people  of 
color  residing  in  our  country,  in  Africa." 

Eev.  Samuel  J.  Mills  and  Rev.  Ebenezer  Burgess 
went  on  board  the  "  Electra,"  at  Philadelphia,  for  Lon- 
don, Nov.  16,  1817.  They  set  sail  in  the  "Mary,"  from 
London,  Feb.  3,  1818,  and  arrived  at  Sierra  Leone 
March  22,  following.  They  selected  Sherbro  Island, 
about  120  miles  from  that  celebrated  British  colony, 
and  left  thence  for  the  United  States  May  22,  having 
passed  just  two  months  on  the  west  coast  of  Africa. 
Mr.  Mills  died  on  the  homeward  voyage.  His  worthy 
colleague  still  lives  in  a  good  old  age. 

The  ship  "  Elizabeth,"  the  "  Mayflower  "  of  Liberia, 
sailed  from  New  York  Feb.  6,  1820,  with  86  emi- 
grants, and  arrived  at  Sierra  Leone  March  9.  These 
pioneers  were  landed  at  Campelar,  Sherbro  Island, 
March  20,  1820.  This  place  was  soon  abandoned,  and 
the  survivors  removed  to  Fourah  Bay. 

A  treaty  was  signed  at  and  for  Mesurado  Dec. 
15,  1821,  the  colonists  removed,  and  the  American  flag 
raised  there,  April  25,  1822. 

The  several  settlements,  with  one  exception,  were 
formed  into  a  Commonwealth,  the  Legislature  of  which 
began  its  first  session  Aug.  30,  1839. 

The  people,  in  Convention  assembled,  July  26,  1847, 


34  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

constituted  and  declared  themselves  a  "  free,  sovereign, 
and  independent  State,  by  the  name  and  title  of  the 
Republic  of  Liberia." 

The  flag  of  the  new  Republic  was  raised  Aug.  24, 
1847,  with  demonstrations  of  joy  and  gratitude. 

The  territory  owned  by  the  Liberian  Government  ex- 
tends some  six  hundred  miles  alono;  the  West-African 
coast,  and  reaches  back  indefinitely  toward  the  interior, 
the  native  title  to  which  has  been  fairly  purchased. 

It  has  brought  within  its  elevating  influence  at  least 
200,000  of  the  native  inhabitants,  who  are  gradually  ac- 
quiring the  arts,  comforts,  and  conveniences  of  civilized 
life.  It  has  a  regularly  organized  government,  mod- 
elled after  our  own,  with  all  the  departments  in  suc- 
cessful operation.  Schools,  seminaries,  a  college,  and 
some  fifty  churches,  belonging  to  seven  different  denom- 
inations, are  in  a  hopeful  condition.  Towns  and  cities 
are  beino-  built  where  once  the  slave-trade  flourished 
with  all  its  untold  cruelty,  bloodshed,  and  carnage.  Ag- 
riculture is  extending,  and  commerce  is  increasing. 

Liberia  has  exercised,  for  nigh  twenty  years,  all  the 
powers  and  attributes  of  an  independent  Government, 
and  has  been  recognized  as  such  by  the  leading  powers 
of  the  world. 


ADDRESS 


HIS  EXCELLENCY  D.  B.  WARNER, 


PRESIDENT     OF    LIBERIA. 


ADDRESS    OF    PRESIDENT    WARNER. 


3Ir.   President,  and    Gentlemen    of   the  American    Colonization 
Society : 

Doubtless  the  occasion  on  which  you  have  come 
together  to-day  is  one  of  thrilHng  interest  to  every 
philanthropist  present.  It  dates  the  semi-centennial 
existence  of  an  institution,  which,  fifty  years  ago,  entered 
upon  the  prosecution  of  an  enterprise  which  has  already 
achieved  much,  and  is  destined  to  revolutionize  for  good 
an  entire  continent.  A  period  of  fifty  years  in  the  age 
of  a  nation  just  beginning  its  career  is  short,  when 
compared  with  the  object  it  has  in  view  and  the  length 
of  time  such  an  organization  is  expected  to  exist ;  but 
when  viewed  in  connection  with  a  private  association, 
such  as  your  Society  is,  it  occupies  in  the  catalogue  of 
dates  a  high  and  prominent  place. 

Among  the  circumstances  which  led  to  the  founding 
of  your  Society,  there  may  be  enumerated  the  frightful 
proportions  to  which  slavery  had  grown  in  the  United 
States  of  America ;  the  deep  moral  and  physical  degra- 
dation and  immense  suffering  of  its  victims  ;  the  wide- 
spreading  demoralizing  effects  it  was  producing  upon 


38  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION    SOCIETY. 

the  morality,  civilization,  and  Christianity  of  the  country  ; 
and  the  awful  sense  of  the  great  guilt  and  immeasurable 
responsibilities  the  country  was  incurring  by  allowing 
an  institution  so  reproachful  to  continue  in  it  and  to 
receive  aid  and  comfort  under  its  flag.  The  former  of 
these  circumstances  had  produced  in  some  of  the  States 
very  distressing  alarm,  causing  them  to  give  the  question 
of  slavery  a  serious  consideration ;  and  the  sufferings  of 
the  slave  had  appealed  with  powerful  effect  to  the  jus- 
tice, humanity,  and  benevolence  of  all  the  States. 

Respecting  the  first  and  chief  object  of  the  Society  at 
its  founding,  there  have  been  made  various  statements ; 
some  of  which,  if  true,  attribute  to  it  a  selfishness  which 
finds  a  parallel  only  in  that  which  clinches  the  hands 
and  petrifies  the  heart  of  the  most  detested  and  aban- 
doned miser.  But  such  a  selfishness  as  that  could  not, 
I  think,  have  continued  so  long,  and  been  productive  of 
such  great  and  good  results  as  we  see  flowing  from 
the  operations  of  the  scheme  of  African  colonization. 
But  whether  it  was  self-interest,  or  any  thing  akin  thereto, 
which  prompted  the  founding  of  the  institution,  and  has 
ever  since  been  the  mainspring  of  all  its  operations,  the 
signs  of  the  times  seem  to  favor  the  opinion  of  many, 
that  an  enterprise  was  set  on  foot,  which,  in  process  of 
time,  will  become  a  standing  wonder  of  the  world ;  and, 
in  eternity,  millions  will  remember  it  as  the  door  through 
which  they  entered  the  church  militant,  and  thence  the 
church  triumphant. 

Perhaps  the  pages  of  modern  history  contain  a  record 


ADDRESS    OF    PRESIDENT    WARNER.  39 

of  no  beginnings  so  small,  instruments  so  weak,  and 
wielded  by  a  power  so  feeble,  that  have,  in  the  same 
time,  accomplished  more  than  the  Society  has  through 
its  African  colonization  scheme.  This  remark  should  be 
regarded  as  neither  boastful  and  extravagant  on  the  part 
of  Liberia,  nor  enthusiastic  and  exaggerative  in  favor  of 
the  Society.  It  is  rather  an  expression  given  to  convic- 
tions which  are  daily  being  strengthened  and  confirmed 
by  the  progressive  movements,  both  of  the  Society  and 
of  Liberia,  and  in  which  the  world  itself  will  concur, 
when  the  objects  and  operations,  achievements  and  pros- 
pects of  both  shall  have  been  thoroughly  understood 
by  it. 

The  Society  was  no  sooner  formed,  than  its  object  and 
operations  became  an  offence  to  the  hardened  slave- 
holder. By  him  they  were  said  to  be  in  antagonism  to 
his  interest,  and  the  interest  of  those  he  held  in  bondage. 
He,  therefore,  hurled  against  them  all  the  formidable 
weapons  he  could  command ;  calling,  at  the  same  time, 
for  the  curse  of  Heaven  to  fall  upon  them,  and  blast  them 
forever. 

There  seems,  however,  to  have  been,  in  the  earlier 
stages  of  slavery  in  the  United  States,  some  little  just 
and  humane  consideration  for  the  slave  and  man  of 
color  ;  but,  when  this  feeling  assumed  the  form  of  pro- 
tection and  stern  justice,  the  creed  of  the  pro-slavery 
man  was  made  to  run  thus  :  "  Go,  therefore,  now,  and 
work,  for  there  shall  no  straw  be  given  you,  yet  ye  shall 
deliver  the  tale  of  bricks." 


40  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

As  friends  to  the  Society  and  African  colonization 
multiplied,  the  opposition  of  the  pro-slavery  men  grew 
stronger,  seconded  even  by  some  of  those  for  whose 
especial  benefit  the  association  was  founded.  It  was 
fierce  and  malicious  and  formidable  enough  to  discourage 
and  even  check  a  movement  much  more  popular  than 
African  colonization. 

That  there  may  be  brought  under  view  something 
more  of  the  greatness  of  the  task  which  the  Society 
imposed  upon  itself,  —  or  will  it  be  as  correct  to  say,  that 
was  imposed  upon  the  Society  ?  —  when  it  assumed  to 
found  a  colony  of  the  American  blacks  on  the  West 
Coast  of  Africa, —  this  dreaded  land,  —  we  must  take  into 
the  account  the  very  limited  geographical  knowledge  it 
possessed  of  the  country  about  to  be  occupied,  of  the 
character  of  the  people  inhabiting  it,  the  distance  of 
three  thousand  miles  emigrants  would  have  to  be  trans- 
ported who  were  to  be  the  colonists,  and  the  protection 
which  would  have  to  be  afforded  these  from  the  violence 
and  depredations  of  the  natives  in  the  country.  Here, 
too,  in  active  operation,  was  a  powerful  branch  of  that 
great  laboratory —  the  slave-trade  —  that  was  furnishing 
the  Western  World  with  its  victims  of  cruelty,  suffering, 
and  death.  It  was  being  carried  on  by  civilized  and 
Christian  governments,  who  made  their  navies  sentinels 
to  watch  and  repel  the  approaches  of  any  one  that 
would  have  the  temerity  to  come  to  molest  them  in 
their  infamous  work  of   blood.     Long  had   the  horrid 


ADDRESS    OF    PRESIDENT    WARNER.  41 

flag  of  this  nefarious  traffic  waved  over  the  land,  sup- 
ported and  worshipped  by  its  kings  and  its  princes. 

Against  this  array  of  might  and  power,  a  handful  of 
men,  comprising  the  American  Colonization  Society, — 
an  association  of  very  limited  means,  and  equally  so  in 
point  of  skill  in  the  management  of  African  affairs,  —  set 
out  to  contend,  relying  for  success  upon  the  pureness  of 
their  intention,  the  justice  of  their  cause,  and  the  hope 
of  receiving  aid  from  Him  by  whom  "kings  reign  and 
princes  decree  righteousness ; "  and  who  had  said, 
"  Ethiopia  shall  stretch  forth  her  hand  unto  God."  How 
they  began  and  succeeded,  we  will  narrate  presently. 

For  more  than  three  centuries  previous  to  the  found- 
ing of  your  Society,  the  African  slave-trade  had  been 
crossing  the  Atlantic  Ocean  to  the  Western  Hemisphere. 
Annually,  it  had  torn  away  from  their  native  homes  and 
beloved  country,  thousands  and  thousands  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Africa,  burying  thousands  of  them  in  the  sea,  as 
they  expired  in  the  middle  passage,  and  transporting  the 
remainder  of  them,  sick,  feeble,  and  distressed,  to  foreign 
countries ;  there  subjecting  them  to  a  servitude  and  to 
brutalities  to  which  a  speedy  and  violent  death  is  pref- 
erable. For  years  this  wicked  and  unjust  traffic  had 
been  passing  from  East  to  West,  attended  with  sufferings, 
cruelties,  and  barbarities,  which  torture  the  mind  to 
reflect  upon.  The  Western  World  had  been  made  black 
with  the  shrivelled  forms  of  its  victims,  and  their 
oppressors  drunk  with  their  blood. 

But,  from  the  beginning  of  the  foul  monster's  career, 


42  AMKKK'AX    rOLOXTZATION    SOCIETY. 

there  was  an  eye,  which  never  sleeps,  looking  on  upon 
his  work.  It  took  cognizance  of  all  his  deeds ;  of  each 
of  his  victims  that  fell  in  the  middle  passage,  and  now 
lies  on  the  bed  of  ocean ;  of  all  that  breathed  out 
their  souls  on  the  bloody  plantation,  whose  bones  have 
no  resting  place  but  in  the  open  air,  exposed  to  the  foot 
of  the  impious  and  the  ravages  of  the  night  beasts. 

True,  the  American  people,  as  a  nation,  retired  from 
the  trade,  declaring  it  piracy,  and  those  of  themselves  en- 
gaged in  it  worthy  of  death ;  but  this  declaration  was,  in 
effect,  like  the  decrees  of  King  Ahasuerus,  and  its  hy- 
pocrisy has  received  a  terrible  reward.  But  the  time 
in  the  purpose  of  this  All-seeing  One  having  come, 
when  a  counter  current  should  set  in, —  when  there 
should  be,  at  least,  a  beginning  of  a  returning  to  their 
father-land  of  the  suffering  African  captives,  a  star 
appeared  to  guide  them  to  the  spot : — 

^'  It  was  their  guide,  their  light,  their  all  ; 
It  bade  their  dark  forebodings  cease  ; 
And  through  the  storm,  and  danger's  thrall, 
It  led  them  to  the  port  of  peace." 

Purposely  inspired,  as  I  very  believe  they  were,  by 
Omnipotence,  with  his  will  to  that  end,  a  few  philan- 
thropic individuals  banded  themselves  together,  and,  in 
the  year  1816,  founded  the  American  Colonization 
Society.  This  is  the  star  which  appeared  to  shed  light 
on  the  surrounding  darkness  of  American  slavery,  and 


ADDRESS    OF    PRESIDENT   WARNER.  43 

to  point  out  to  the  bondmen  the  way  from  the  "  House 
of  Bondage  "  to  the  "  Land  of  Promise."  This  was  the 
more  earnest  beginning  by  those  devoted  philanthro- 
pists, to  do  that  ivill  of  Heaven  with  which  they  had 
been  so  impressively  inspired. 

Still  pressing  towards  their  object,  the  Society,  in 
1818,  employed,  commissioned,  and  sent  to  the  coast  of 
Africa,  two  commissioners.  The  honored  forerunners  of 
the  heaven-blessed  scheme,  and  bearers  of  credentials 
sealed  with  an  impress  deeper  and  broader  than  that 
which  mortals  use,  Avere  Messrs.  Samuel  J.  Mills  and 
Ebenezer  Burgess,  —  names  honored  in  Liberia  by  all 
who  hear  them.  Theirs  was  the  duty  to  "  spy  out  the 
land,"  and  to  select  and  purchase  a  suitable  site  for  the 
location  of  a  colony.  This  was  to  be  an  asylum,  —  a 
peaceful  retreat  from  slavery  and  oppression  —  for  as 
many  of  the  African  exiles  in  America  as  could  and 
would  avail  themselves  of  the  provisions  made  by  the 
Society  for  reaching  it.  It  was  to  be  the  foundation  of 
a  Christian  negro  nationality,  and  a  beacon  to  the  count- 
less thousands  and  millions  of  Africa's  sons  who  are 
sitting  in  darkness  and  in  the  region  and  shadow  of 
death. 

Promptly  did  those  agents  fulfil  their  mission,  the 
many  obstacles  which  lay  in  their  way  notwithstanding. 
In  treating  with  the  owners  of  the  land  selected,  they 
were  brought  in  contact  with  all  that  duplicity  and 
treachery  for  which  the  natives  connected  Avith  the 
slave-trade  are  so  signally  famous.     This  rendered  their 


44  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION    SOCIETY. 

negotiations  both  irksome  and  perplexing.  But  all 
these  difficulties  were  heroically  encountered  and  over- 
come ;  and  then  the  commissioners  turned  their  faces 
homeward. 

On  the  return  of  Mr.  Burgess  to  America  (Mr.  Mills, 
his  co-adjutor,  having  resigned  his  gentle  spirit  to  Him 
who  gave  it,  while  on  his  way  to  those  who  had  sent 
him),  and  the  communication  to  the  Society  of  his  re- 
port, the  Society  determined  at  once  to  give  their  novel 
enterprise  a  thorough  and  practical  trial,  so  soon  as 
circumstances  would  allow  it  to  do  so.  After  the  lapse 
of  two  years,  matters  being  favorable,  the  undertaking 
was  resumed ;  when  in  February,  1820,  the  ship  "Eliza- 
beth "  was  chartered,  and  sent  to  the  Sherbro  Island  with 
a  company  of  eighty-eight  emigrants,  under  the  care 
and  superintendence  of  the  Society's  new  agent.  Dr. 
S.  A.  Crozer.  This  was  the  forming  germ  of  a  subse- 
quent growth  ;  and  who  at  that  time,  judging  from  its 
formation  and  tenderness,  could  determine  the  size  of 
the  tree  it  would  produce  ?  Who  could  estimate  the 
number  of  other  happy  events  depending  upon  its  suc- 
cess? Or  who,  even  now,  at  its  advanced  age  and 
growth  of  only  forty-six  years,  will  undertake  to  figure 
up  the  good  which  has  already  accrued  from  it  to  civil- 
ization and  Christianity  ?  And  what  circle  less  than  that 
which  bounds  eternity  will  be  sufficiently  great  to 
enclose  the  influence  it  is  now  exerting  upon  the  world  ? 
Had  the  opportunity  afforded  the  Society  at  that  time 


ADDRESS    OF   PRESIDENT   WARNER.  45 

for  planting  a  settlement  in  Africa  been  lost,  a  second 
one  would  probably  have  never  occurred. 

The  location  selected  for  the  colony  being,  as  it  sub- 
sequently and  sadly  proved  to  be,  one  of  extreme 
unhealthiness,  the  emigrants  were  early  stricken  down 
by  its  pestilential  fevers.  Great  suffering  followed ;  and 
death  did  his  work  so  fast  and  terribly,  that  it  was 
found  necessary  to  abandon  the  island,  and  remove  the 
surviving  colonists  to  the  colony  of  Sierra-Leone.  Here 
they  remained  until  they  were  re-enforced  by  a  company 
by  the  brig  "Nautilus;"  and  here  both  companies 
located  until  a  second  and  permanent  place  was  found 
for  them  in  1821,  at  Cape  Mesurado.  At  this  place  the 
care-worn  wanderers  utterly  demolished  the  tent,  substi- 
tuting it  with  the  more  substantial  and  firmly-fixed 
lodge,  composed  of  brick,  wood,  and  the  durable  granite. 
Here  a  remnant  of  that  pioneer  band  and  their  offspring 
are  resting,  having  stood  the  shock  of  war,  endured 
intense  suffering,  and  undergone  and  lived  through  most 
of  the  trials  and  vicissitudes  peculiar  to  newly-founded 
countries.  And  here  are  thousands  of  others  who  have 
come  after  them,  enjoying,  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the 
word,  "  liberty  and  equality."  Here  no  "  public  senti- 
ment frowns  them  down,"  so  long  as  they  obey  their 
country's  laws. 

It  was  to  be  out  of  the  "  house  of  bondage,"  that 
those  way-faring  and  self-sacrificing  men,  stoojiing  under 
the  weight  of  weary  years  of  slavery,  launched  upon 
the  tumultuous  ocean,  crossed  it,  and  became  the  sub- 


46  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

jeets  of  suffering  and  privation  which  put  to  the  test  all 
of  human  and  divine  virtues  they  possessed.  And  the 
fortitude  and  heroism  displayed  by  those  founders  of 
Liberia,  during  their  day  of  trial,  were  indeed  worthy 
the  cause  calling  them  into  action  ;  and  the  names  of 
the  veterans  themselves,  with  that  of  the  illustrious 
Ashmun,  and  those  of  your  numerous  other  self-sacrili- 
cing  agents,  and  that  of  the  Gordons  who  fell  in  the 
cause  of  African  colonization,  —  died  here  that  Liberia 
might  live,  —  will  descend  in  radiance  of  glory,  gather- 
ing brightness  as  years  roll  on,  to  generations  yet 
unborn. 

All  this  was  done  to  reclaim  from  slavery,  superstition, 
and  idolatry,  and  to  prepare  and  garnish  the  home  of 
the  millions  of  Africa's  descendants  in  America,  and  to 
bring  within  the  range  of  morality,  civilization,  and 
Christianity,  the  untold  millions  of  her  sons  and  daugh- 
ters dwelling  in  darkness  on  her  soil,  and  in  gross  dark- 
ness which  can  be  felt. 

What  a  fabric  of  "  civil  and  religious  liberty "  was 
begun  at  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the  Colony 
of  Liberia !  What  a  monument  of  God's  favor  and 
loving-kindness  to  the  sons  of  Ham  was  then  being 
created  !  What  an  achievement  was  being  effected  in 
favor  of  the  gospel  of  peace  !  And  what  tongue  will 
refuse  to  speak  His  glories  forth,  who  put  it  into  the 
hearts  of  those  who  undertook  the  work,  and,  until 
their  death,  devoted  themselves  to   its  execution,  to  go 


ADDRESS    OF   PRESIDENT   WARNER.  ■  47 

forth  and  build  up  the  waste  places  in  Africa  which  sin 
had  made ! 

Thus  far  I  have  attempted  very  little  in  detail.  I 
have  already  passed  over,  unnoticed,  hundreds  of  inci- 
dents which  occurred  between  the  arrival  at  Sherbro  of 
the  ship  "  Elizabeth  "  with  the  first  emigrants,  and  the  for- 
mal occupation  by  the  colonists  of  Cape  Mesurado ;  and 
there  are  hundreds  of  others  strewed  between  that 
period  and  the  time  I  am  occupying  in  addressing  you. 

Some  of  those  incidents  were  truly  afflicting  and  dis- 
tressing; and  a  recollection  of  them,  even  at  this  distant 
period  of  time,  produces  in  the  mind  very  sad  and  pain- 
ful reflections.  Others  were  cheering  and  gratifying, 
and  in  their  more  happy  effects  are  still  looming  up 
before  us  in  the  most  flattering  prospects  of  success, 
both  to  the  Society  and  to  the  Republic  of  Liberia. 

In  my  last  inaugural  address,  I  have  already  noticed 
what  I  think  should  be  regarded  by  us  all  as  very  re- 
markable in  the  enterprise  of  your  Society,  viz. :  the 
exemption  from  those  more  sad  and  distressing  casual- 
ties or  disasters,  so  common  to  the  maritime  world,  of 
all  its  vessels  but  one,  I  think,  transporting  emigrants 
to  Liberia.*  Are  not  such  remarkable  instances  of  the 
preservation  of  ships  very  rare  ?  And  have  we  another 
such  instance  given,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Society,  in 
which  a  company  has  sent  its  vessels  across  the  ocean 
for  forty-six  years,  consecutively,  and  has  lost  but  one 
of  them  ?     Were  I  certain  that  the  case  of  the  Society 

*  In  that  single  instance  of  wreck,  no  emigrant  was  lost. —  [Ed.] 


48  A^SIERICAN    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY. 

furnished  tlie  only  instance  of  the  kind,  I  would  seize 
upon  it  with  the  greater  tenacity,  as  an  incontrovertible 
proof  of  God's  special  favor  towards  the  returning 
bondmen  of  America,  and  of  his  pre-determined  pur- 
pose that  they  should  once  more  visit,  and  permanently 
settle  in,  their  country,  —  long  lost  and  disgraced  though 
it  may  have  been,  —  driving  out  the  Canaanite,  and 
breaking  down  and  trampling  under  foot  the  power  of 
the  slaver. 

Granting  that  some  vessel  and  her  company  of  emi- 
grants shall  be  lost,  —  sunk  in  the  depths  of  the  sea,  — 
will  that  be  sufficient  to  break  down  the  opinion,  that  the 
Supreme  Being  has  willed  and  fore-ordained  that  there 
shall  be  an  exodus  of  the  colored  population  of  America 
to  their  own  land  ?  No  more  so,  I  think,  than  the  fall- 
ing in  the  wilderness  of  all  the  Jews,  except  two,  over 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  that  left  Egypt  for  Canaan, 
before  they  reached  that  place,  was  sufficient  to  prove 
that  it  had  not  been  pre-ordained  that  they  should  leave 
Egypt,  and  go  into  Canaan.  If  any  of  the  descendants 
of  Africa  in  America  start  hither,  despising  the  country 
—  their  sacredly  reserved  inheritance  —  to  which  they 
are  coming,  should  it  be  thought  strange  if  they  do  not 
reach  it  ? 

The  late  war  in  America,  —  that  terrible  "  uprising  of 
a  great  people," —  if  it  could  be  viewed  in  all  its  phases 
and  connections,  would  probably  furnish  an  exact  key 
to  the  question,  "  Shall  the  people  go  to  their  own 
place  ? "     The  very  watch-word  of  that  war  was,  "  Let 


ADDRESS   OF  PRESIDENT   WARNER.  49 

my  people  go,  that  they  may  serve  me  in  the  wilder- 
ness." The  burden  of  President  Lincoln's  administration 
was,  Loose  the  shackles,  and  let  the  oppressed  go  free  ! 
And  President  Johnson,  extending  the  order,  says  to 
the  people,  "  Go  to  Liberia." 

All  the  propositions,  from  1777  to  the  present  time, 
made  by  various  Governments,  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  of  America  not  excepted,  for  the  settle- 
ment of  the  people  elsewhere  than  their  own  country, 
have  failed,  —  failed,  may  we  not  say,  like  the  building 
of  Babel,  because  they  were  in  direct  opposition  to  that 
plan  for  settling  them,  designed  by  Him  who  is  the  Great 
Designer  of  the  universe  itself  He  saith,  "  Surely,  as  I 
have  thought,  so  shall  it  come  to  pass ;  and  as  I  have 
purposed,  so  shall  it  stand."  * 

It  would  seem,  then,  that  it  is  no  wilderness  in  Mis- 
sissippi, in  any  of  the  north-western  Territories,  nor  in 
Central  America,  to  which  the  people  should  remove  or 
be  removed,  but  to  the  wilderness  of  Western  and  of 
Central  Africa.  These,  doubtless,  are  the  localities 
ordained  of  old  to  be  the  future  dwelling-places  of  the 
returning  captives  of  Africa,  and  the  deep  solitudes 
requiring  the  melody  of  their  songs,  that  the  solitary 
places  may  be  glad  ;  and  the  people  themselves  should  be 
constantly  pleading,  "  Send  me  away,  that  I  may  go 
unto  mine  own  place." 

On  being  invited  to   come   to   Liberia,  the    colored 

*  Isaiah  xiv.  24 


50  AMERICAN    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY. 

people  of  America  should  not  regard  the  invitation  in 
the  light  of  a  request  made  of  them  to  surrender  their 
own  country,  and  come  to  one  belonging  to  others. 
The  contrary  is  the  true  state  of  the  case.  Africa,  and 
not  America,  is  their  country.    It  was  made  theirs  when 

"  Grod  drave  asunder,  and  assigned  their  lot 
To,  all  the  nations." 

It  has  been  for  centuries,  and  is  still  being,  kept  in 
sacred  reserve  for  them,  and  none  shall  inherit  their 
portion  until  they  come.  And  they  ought  to  come ;  and 
come  they  will,  when  it  shall  be  said  to  them,  —  and  it 
will  be  said  to  them  in  a  manner  they  shall  not  be  able 
to  resist,  —  "  Get  thee  out  from  this  land,  and  return  to 
the  land  of  thy  kindred." 

Here  is  ample  room  to  receive  them,  bread  enough  to 
feed  them,  wealth  to  enrich  them,  and  a  way  open 
before  them  to  the  object  of  their  highest  aspirations. 

"  Can  the  Ethiopian  change  his  skin,  or  the  leopard 
his  spots  ?"  So  neither  can  finite  minds  change  or  frus- 
trate the  mind  and  purposes  of  the  Infinite.  "  For  the 
Lord  of  hosts  hath  purposed,  and  who  shall  disannul  it  ? 
His  hand  is  stretched  out,  and  who  shall  turn  it  back  ?  " 

But,  you  ask  me.  What  is  that  purpose  ?  The  sura 
total  of  the  answer  is  with  Him  whose  "  thoughts  are  not 
as  our  thoughts  ; "  but  the  opinion  entertained  by  many 
respecting  it  is,  that,  in  the  course  of  time,  the  two  races 
—  the  black  and  white  races  —  must  separate  ;  and  the 


ADDRESS    OF   PRESIDENT    WARXER.  yl 

deep  blue  Atlantic  Ocean  will  be  the  dividing  —  the 
Mason  and  Dixon  —  line  between  them.  Besides  this, 
there  seems  yet  to  be  solved  but  one  other  question 
remaining ;  viz.,  Can  the  blacks  be  absorbed  by  the 
whites  ?  That  is,  can  there  or  will  there  be,  through 
the  means  of  a  spontaneous  amalgamation,  a  gradual 
passing  away  of  the  former  into  mulattoes,  and  these 
again  into  the  dominant  race,  so  that,  in  a  few  centuries, 
the  whole  of  the  present  negro  population  of  America 
will  have  been  changed  into  the  white  element?  This 
is  not  probable  ;  neither  should  it  be  thought  desirable. 
It  will  be  but  increasing  the  difficulty  (perhaps  I  am 
too  dogmatical  in  my  opinion  on  this,  and  some  of  the 
foregoing  subjects),  the  settling  of  the  people  by  them- 
selves in  any  part  of  America,  where  they  and  the 
whites  can  have  easy  and  frequent  intercourse  with  each 
other.  This  opinion  is  based  on  the  probability,  that, 
under  such  circumstances,  one  or  the  other  people  will 
invade  the  rights  of  his  neighbor.  This  will  gender  into 
an  unpleasant  altercation  between  them ;  and,  if  the 
cause  of  offence  proceed  from  the  side  of  the  blacks,  will 
there  not  always  be  found  among  the  whites  those  who 
will  shoot  down  a  score  of  blacks  for  an  injury  done,  nay, 
even  for  an  insult  offered,  to  one  of  the  whites  ?  If  such 
an  occurrence  were  to  take  place  near  or  at  the  allotted 
home  of  the  four  millions  of  blacks,  would  it  not  be 
resented  ?  And,  if  resented,  the  consequences  would 
probably  be  such  as  I  need  not,  if  1  could,  describe. 
If  it  was  not  resented,  I  can  think  of  but  two  things  to 


52  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

which  such  an  enlightened  and  successful  restraint  upon 
depraved  human  nature  would  be  attributable.  First, 
that  the  blacks,  in  separating  from  the  whites,  solemnly 
vowed  never  to  quarrel  with  them  (the  whites),  except 
in  a  legal  way,  under  any  circumstance  whatever ;  and, 
secondly,  that  they  felt  themselves  numerically  too  w^eak 
to  contend  successfully  with  their  white  neighbors  in  a 
quarrel  in  which  deadly  weapons  would  be  used.  If  the 
latter  conclusion  should  be  the  barrier  to  their  protect- 
ing and  defending  themselves  when  they  should  do  so, 
then  the  blacks  would  not  be  living  in  the  enjoyment  of 
that  social  and  political  ease  and  equality  for  which  they 
are,  but  vainly,  contending  in  America. 

But  to  return.  If  I  could  be  less  commendatory  in 
my  remarks  while  I  address  you,  I  would  prefer  it ;  but 
I  cannot  well  be  so,  and  give  utterance  to  what  I  feel  to 
be  genuine  convictions  relative  to  your  Society  and  the 
Eepublic  of  Liberia.  The  life-long  interests  of  millions 
of  the  African  race  in  the  Western  Hemisphere  are  in- 
volved in  the  question.  Shall  those  millions  remain 
where  they  are,  and  let  Africa  go  down,  and  sink  yet 
lower  ;  or  should  they  return  to  their  fatherland,  and 
redeem  it  from  the  stigma  and  reproach  which  have 
rested  upon  it  for  ages,  dishonoring  its  name,  and  throw- 
ing a  darker  shade  over  its  ancient  glory  ?  The  salva- 
tion of  an  entire  continent  of  many  millions  of  inhabi- 
tants is  at  stake ;  and  it  is  but  just,  that  every  laudable 
means  sh(nild  be  called  into  requisition  to  secure  it  ; 
and  that  those  means  should  be  regarded  with  a  proper 


ADDRESS    OF  PKESIDENT  WARNER.  53 

appreciation,  and  their  operations  promoted  ;  and  every 
thing  ought  to  be  said  and  done  that  will  have,  upon 
the  whole  subject,  a  wholesome  and  profitable  bearing. 

But  for  the  inauguration  of  your  Society,  and  the 
subsequent  founding  of  Liberia,  and  the  emigrating  to 
it  from  American  slavery  of  a  few  of  the  civilized  de- 
scendants of  Africa,  what  a  fund  of  native,  but  rare  and 
brilliant,  talent  would  have  lain  hidden  in  the  minds  of 
thousands  who  are  now  employing  it  in  diffusing  useful 
and  saving  knowledge  among  thousands  of  thousands, 
who,  but  for  receiving  it  through  this  channel,  would 
have  gone  without  it  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave ! 

History,  in  all  probability,  never  would  have  had  im- 
pressed on  its  pages,  as  men  of  great  common  sense, 
unflagging  fortitude,  and  dauntless  courage,  the  names 
of  Elijah  Johnson,  Lot  Cary,  Daniel  Hawkins,  Allen 
James,  Richmond  Sampson,  Thomas  Spencer,  John 
Lawrence,  and  the  names  of  numbers  of  others  who 
emigrated  to  Liberia  in  the  darkness  of  the  night  of 
African  slavery,  fought  here,  and  died  in  the  work  of 
laying  the  foundation  of  a  negro  Christian  empire,  and 
erecting  the  standard  of  freedom  and  of  the  cross  of 
the  Saviour.  They  toiled  hard  and  long  at  this,  pray- 
ing, at  the  same  time,  that  the  sun  of  righteousness 
would  shine  on  this  benighted  land,  and  chase  hence, 
forever,  the  thick  darkness  in  which  it  has  been  envel- 
oped for  thousands  of  years. 

The  oratorial  powers  of  the  lamented  Hilary  Teage, 
the  diplomatic  abilities  of  Joseph  J.  Roberts,  the  states- 


54  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION    SOCIETY. 

manship  of  the  late  President  Benson,  the  legal  abilities 
of  Chief-Justice  John  Day,  and  the  ecclesiastic  endow- 
ments of  James  S.  Payne,  and  the  admirable  acquire- 
ments and  abilities  of  many  others  in  Liberia,  would 
have  been  so  many  gifts  vainly  bestowed,  but  for  a 
place  for  their  display,  and  opportunities  for  their  im- 
provement ;  and  these  places  and  opportunities  were 
not  to  be  found  in  a  land  of  slavery  and  proscription. 

The  banks  of  the  St.  Paul's,  St.  John's,  Since,  and  Far- 
mington  River,  and  of  the  River  Cavalla,  now  teeming 
with  civilized  life  and  industry,  presenting  to  view  com- 
fortable Christian  homes,  inviting  school-houses  and 
imposing  church  edifices,  but  for  the  founding  of  Liberia 
would  have  remained  until  this  day  studded  with  slave 
barracoons,  the  theatres  of  indescribable  sufferings,  wick- 
edness, and  shocking  deaths.  And  what  is  to  be  said  of 
the  site  on  which  is  erected  Liberia  College  ?  And 
have  we,  in  truth,  lived  to  see  a  college  in  Liberia  ?  Its 
site  is  now  no  more  a  place  of  concealment  for  the  sub- 
tile and  sinewy  boar,  and  the  stealthy  leopard.  Its 
former  forest  echoes  no  longer  the  horrifying  yell  of 
the  perfidious  and  murderous  Dey,  invading  Monrovia ; 
it  is  no  longer  made  vocal  with  the  doleful  noise  of  the 
nightrbird.  An  edifice,  dedicated  to  the  arts  and  sci- 
ences, stands  there  ;  and  its  halls  are  thronged  with 
Liberia's  youthful  aspirants,  preparing  themselves  to 
assert  the  rights  of  Africa,  and  to  redeem  her  from  her 
present  thraldom. 

And  what  can  I  say  more  !     From  every  stand-point 


ADDRESS    OF   PRESIDENT   WARNER.  56 

I  have  yet  been  able  to  occupy,  I  can  see  nothing  in 
the  founding  of  the  American  Colonization  Society,  and 
its  subsequent  operations,  but  a  lofty  philanthropy  en- 
gaged in  the  prosecution  of  a  purpose  which  can  be 
appreciated  justly  only  by  the  mind  that  can  grasp 
eternity.  And  yet  we  have  the  mortification  to  hear 
the  Society  pronounced  a  cheat ;  its  agents,  knaves ; 
emigration,  a  gross  injustice  ;  the  Republic  of  Liberia,  a 
sham  and  a  grave-yard ;  and  the  whole  enterprise  a  de- 
ception !  But  all  these  pitiful  indulgences  and  unjust 
criminations  fail  most  shamefully  to  disprove  the  fact, 
that  this  day  the  sun,  in  the  brightness  of  his  glory, 
shines  most  majestically  upon  a  palpable  contradiction 
of  all  of  them,  in  the  real  form  of  the  highly  respected 
and  extensively  recognized  Republic  of  Liberia.  Let 
its  traducers  come  and  see  it.  While  they,  on  their 
side  of  the  wall,  are  pouring  water  on  the  flame  to  ex- 
tinguish it,  on  the  opposite  side  there  is  a  Hand,  se- 
cretly, and  as  constantly,  keeping  it  alive  by  feeding  it 
with  grateful  oil. 

With  all  her  faults  and  failings,  her  poverty  and 
weakness,  Liberia  is  endeavoring  to  prove  herself 
grateful  to  those  who  founded  her,  and  have  watched 
over  her,  cared  for  and  fostered  her  for  forty-six  years, 
and  so  render  hei'self  worthy  of  the  relations  she  sus- 
tains to  Africa,  and  to  the  civilized  nations  with  whom 
she  has  treaties. 

Your  offspring,  Mr.  President,  and  gentlemen  of  the 
society,  is  yet  existing,  and,  withal,  is  growing,  —  grow- 


56  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

ing  in  that  which  is  of  "  good  report."  Her  growth  may 
be  tardy;  so  may  it  be  of  long  continuance.  But,  if  our 
colored  brethren  would  come  over  and  help  us,  we 
should  get  on  faster,  and  our  prosperity  would  be  much 
more  abundant.  They  have  been  so  frequently  invited 
to  come,  and  the  advantages  they  would  have  in  this 
country  have  been  so  clearly  and  repeatedly  set  before 
tliem,  that  I  deem  it  unnecessary  to  say  any  thing  fur- 
ther to  encourage  them  to  come  than  I  have  already 
said.  If  they  will  persist  in  building  Babels  in  the  land 
of  Shinar,  and  pyramids  in  Egypt,  which  will  eventually 
be  to  them  only  so  many  eye-sores  whenever  they  look 
at  them  from  this  side  of  the  waters,  we  have  only  to 
say  to  them,  huild  on. 

Since  your  founding,  you  have  been  called  to  lament 
the  death  of  many  of  your  once  active  and  efficient 
members,  whose  presence  in  your  meetings  was  so  ani- 
mating and  cheering.  In  the  far-off  land  of  Africa,  re- 
pose the  dust  of  some  of  them.  But  there  are  yet  re- 
maining among  you  faces  that  have  been  familiar  with 
each  other,  perhaps  for  fifty  years.  Doubtless  there  is 
among  you  your  venerable  and  superannuated  corre- 
sponding secretary,  whom  you  sent  to  Liberia  in  1824, 
to  rconnoitre  the  colony,  and  to  inspect  the  Agency  of 
the  great  Ashmun,  your  then  Colonial  Agent,  whose  in- 
trinsic worth,  as  a  person  for  the  times,  the  Society  did 
not  at  that  time  know.  There  are  also  yet  in  Liberia, 
among  the  living,  a  few  of  the  Crozer  band,  and  a  rem- 
nant of  the  Ashmun  contemporaries.     But  Liberia,  as 


ADDRESS   OF  PRESIDENT   WARNER.  57 

well  as  the  Society,  has  had  her  bereavements.  Her 
great  men  passed  away  just  at  the  time,  in  hmnan  cal- 
culations, when  their  services  were  most  wanted.  They 
are  gone  from  their  labor  and  toil,  and  their  works  fol- 
low them. 

Notwithstanding  many  evil  reports  have  gone  abroad 
against  our  "land  of  promise,"  deterring  many  in 
America,  and  perhaps  elsewhere,  from  coming  to  help 
us  possess  it  —  and  there  are  yet  being  uttered  predic- 
tions that  we  must  "eventually  fail  and  come  to  naught," 
—  yet  both  you  and  we  have  abundant  reasons  to  re- 
joice, and  to  believe  that  He  who  has  begun  the  work 
of  Africa's  redemption  will  carry  it  on  to  a  glorious 
completion.  That  great  Architect  of  the  universe  has 
given  us  already  too  many  assurances  of  his  good  will 
towards  us  —  and  he  is  able  to  make  that  good  will 
abundantly  effectual  —  to  allow  us  to  doubt  one  mo- 
ment his  faithfulness  in  all  things  pertaining  to  his 
creatures,  or  to  believe  he  will  abandon  us  while  we 
are  yet  trusting  in  him.  The  sure  and  immutable  word 
is,  "  Righteousness  exalteth  a  nation  ;  but  sin  is  a  re- 
proach to  any  people."  By  securing  the  first,  the  sec- 
ond may  be  avoided. 

In  conclusion,  Mr.  President  and  gentlemen,  I  have 
only  to  remark,  that,  thus  far,  through  the  vicissitudes 
of  fifty  years,  amidst  the  sneers  and  scoffs  of  those 
who  would  scoff  and  sneer  at  your  imdertaking,  against 
the  spiteful  and  virulent  opposition  of  anti-colonization- 
ists,  with  a  determination  of  purpose,  having  a  sanctified 


58  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

reference  to  the  glory  of  God,  you  have  steadily  held 
on  your  way,  using  your  best  endeavors  for  the  re- 
demption of  Africa,  and  the  salvation  of  her  milHons  of 
souls.  Were  I  permitted  to  speak  a  word  in  behalf  of 
myself,  in  your  presence,  I  would  say,  I  shall  never  be 
able  to  command  language  to  express  my  gratitude 
to  God  for  guiding  my  infant  feet  to  the  Colony  of 
Liberia.  My  time  hi  Liberia  is  almost  coeval  with  the 
existence  of  the  place,  and  I  have  yet  to  feel  the  slight- 
est regret  at  my  being  here. 

And  now,  to  Him  w^ho  hath  sustained  you,  and  given 
you  of  his  free  Spirit  to  guide  you  in  all  your  acts  and 
deliberations,  be  ascribed  might,  majesty,  and  dominion, 
now  and  forever. 


HISTORICAL   DISCOURSE. 


HISTOEICAL    DISCOUESE. 


Mr.  President : 

A  PUBLIC  notice  has  promised  "  An  Historical  Discourse 
on  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Society  "  which  now 
celebrates  its  fiftieth  anniversary.  The  treatment  of 
the  first  topic  —  the  Rise  —  may,  perhaps,  be  aided  by 
an  illustration.  It  shall  be  drawn  from  the  practice  of 
the  ancients,  mentioned  by  Seneca,  of  building  altars  and 
offering  worship  at  the  sources  of  rivers.  Remains  of 
such  temples,  evidently  Grecian,  are  still  seen  at  the  two 
sources  of  the  Jordan  ;  and  substructions,  older  than 
Grecian,  at  that  of  the  Chrysorrhoas,  esteemed  by  the 
people  of  Damascus  "better  than  all  the  waters  of 
Israel."  In  both  these  instances,  however,  the  water 
from  these  sources  soon  unites  with  less  pretentious 
streams,  coming  from  a  much  greater  distance.  But 
what  if  there  be  no  vast  flood  bursting  forth  at  any  one 
point  ?  What  if  we  find  only  here  the  bubbling  fount- 
ain, at  which  the  wild  bird  scarce  slakes  her  thirst ; 
there,  the  drops  trickling  from  the  face  of  a  cliff;  yon- 
der, the  superfluous  moisture  escaping  from  a  bed  of 
moss ;    and  moisture  from  a  thousand  other  places,  in 


62  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

varied  forms,  all  collected  by  the  slopes  and  channels 
which  the  Great  Creator  has  provided  for  that  pur- 
pose, into  one  vast  Father  of  Waters,  fertilizing  the 
plains  and  bearing  the"  commerce  of  half  a  continent  ? 
Plainly,  you  can  erect  your  altar  in  no  one  place.  You 
can  worship  only  the  Beneficent  Wisdom  which  is  every- 
where, and  which  has  so  made  the  world  that  kindred 
good  intluences  naturally  flow  together,  and  combine 
into  broad  streams  of  blessing  to  mankind. 

So  of  the  origin  of  our  Society,  and  of  our  work.  The 
sentiment  out  of  which  it  grew,  more  or  less  definitely 
formed  into  specific  plans,  was  everywhere,  tending  to 
realize  itself  in  beneficent  action  for  the  colored  race. 
This  sentiment  gushed  forth  at  many  points;  so  that 
many  persons  have  been  named  as  the  originators  of 
our  enterprise.  And  there  is  some  ground  for  each  of 
these  claims,  and,  doubtless,  for  many  others  that  might 
have  been  advanced.  They  were  originators,  as  truly  as 
if  there  had  been  no  others.  Their  relative  merits  can- 
not be  settled  by  chronology,  for  the  thought  was  often 
as  fresh  and  original  in  the  later  projector  as  in  any  that 
had  preceded  him. 

The  earliest  movement  known  to  have  any  historical 
connection  with  our  Society  was  the  visit  of  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Hopkins  of  Newport,  RI.  to  his  neighbor,  the 
Rev.  Ezra  Stiles,  April  7,  1773.  The  diary^"^^of  Dr. 
Stiles  has  preserved  the  record.  Dr.  Hopkins  pro- 
posed to  educate  two  pious  negro  youths  for  the  ministry, 
and  send  them  to  Africa  as  missionaries ;  hoping,  evident- 


HISTORICAL  DISCOURSE.  63 

ly,  to  send  more  in  time.  He  needed  assistance  to  meet 
the  expense.  The  more  practical  mind  of  Dr.  Stiles 
suggested  that  the  enterprise  would  not  succeed  in  that 
form  ;  that  thirty  or  forty  suitable  persons  must  be  sent 
out,  and  the  whole  conducted  by  a  societ}^  formed  for 
the  purpose.  This  idea  of  a  purely  missionary  settle- 
ment grew,  in  a  few  years,  into  a  definite  plan  for  a 
colony,  with  its  agricultural,  mechanical,  and  commercial 
interests.  Aug.  31, 1773,  Drs.  Stiles  and  Hopkins  issued 
a  circular,  inviting  contributions  to  their  enterprise. 
Feb.  7,  1774,  a  society  of  ladies  in  Newport  had  just 
made  their  first  contribution  ;  and  aid  had  been  received 
from  several  parts  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut. 
Nov.  2r,'^wo  of  the  young  men  sailed  for  New  York,  on 
their  w^ay  to  Princeton,  N.J.  to  be  educated  under 
Dr.  Witherspoon,  president  of  the  college.  Three  days"^ 
later,  bills  were  drawn  on  London  for  amounts  col- 
lected in  aid  of  their  enterprise  in  England  and  in 
Scotland.  April  10,  1776,  another  circular  was  issued. 
They  then  thought  their  colony  would  be  on  the  Gold 
Coast,  near  Annamaboe,  where  one  of  their  young  men 
had  influential  relatives,  who  were  anxious  for  his  re- 
turn, as  had  been  learned  by  letters  from  Africa,  confirm- 
ing his  own  account. 

The  war  of  Independence  suspended  these  labors ; 
but  the  plan  and  the  purpose  survived  it.  In  1784,  and 
again  in  1787,  Dr.  Hopkins  endeavored  to  induce  mer- 
chants to  send  out  a  vessel  with  a  few  emigrants,  to 
procure  lands  and  make  a  beginning,  and  with  goods, 


64  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

the  profits  on  which  would,  of  course,  dhninish  the 
expense.  In  March,  1787-  lie  had  consultations  with 
Dr.  William  Thornton,  "a  young  man  from  the  West 
Indies,"  who  proposed  to  take  out  a  company  of  free 
blacks,  and  found  a  colony  in  Africa.  A  number  volun- 
teered to  go  with  him,  but  the  enterprise  foiled  for 
want  of  funds.  Dr.  Thornton  was  afterwards  a  member 
of  the  first  Board  of  Managers  of  the  American  Coloni- 
zation Society. 

A  month  later,  Granville  Sharpe  and  others  sent  the 
first  colonists  from  London  to  Sierra  Leone.  This  design 
was  already  known  to  Hopkins.  Perhaps,  too,  Sharpe 
had  heard  of  the  plans  of  Hopkins,  as  they  had  been  well 
known  in  England  for  some  years  ;  but  they  had  no 
direct  intercourse  with  each  other  till  Hopkins  wrote  to 
Sharpe,  Jan.  15,  1789,  inquiring  whether,  and  on  what 
terms,  and  with  what  prospects,  blacks  from  America 
could  join  the  colony.  There  were  then  "  Christian 
Blacks  "  desirous  to  emigrate,  enough  to  form  a  church  ; 
and  one  of  them  was  fit  to  be  its  pastor. 

Unsuccessful  in  this,  he  continued  his  labors.  In  1791, 
he  wished  the  Connecticut  Emancipation  Society  to  be 
incorporated,  with  power  to  act  as  an  education  and 
colonization  society.  In  1793,  he  preached  a  sermon 
before  a  kindred  society  at  Providence,  which  was  pub- 
lished with  an  appendix,  in  which  he  advocated  almost 
the  exact  course  of  action  afterward  adopted  by  this 
Society,  and  urged  its  execution  by  the  United-States 


HISTORICAL   DISCOURSE.  65 

Government,  the  several  State  Governments,  and  by 
voluntary  societies. 

Hopkins  died  Dec.  20,  1803 ;  but  the  influence  of 
these  labors  still  lived.  They  must  have  been  well 
known  to  Capt.  Paul  Cuffee  of  New  Bedford,  and  the 
thirty  emigrants  whom  he  took  to  Sierra  Leone  in  his 
own  vessel,  early  in  1815  ;  and  in  1826,  two  of  his 
"  hopeful  young  men,"  Newport  Gardner,  aged  seventy- 
five,  and  John  Nubia,*  aged  seventy,  hoping  to  move 
their  brethren  by  their  example,  sailed  from  Boston  in 
the  brig  "  Vine,"  the  eighth  vessel  sent  out  by  this 
Society. 

The  next  movement  having  any  historical  result  was 
in  Virginia.  Dec.  31,  1800,  the  Legislature,  in  secret 
session, — 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Governor  be  requested  to  correspond  with 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  on  the  subject  of  purchasing 
lands  without  the  limits  of  this  State,  whither  persons  obnoxious 
to  the  laws  or  dangerous  to  the  peace  of  society  may  be  removed." 

The  Governor,  Monroe,  in  communicating  this  Reso- 
lution to  the  President,  stated  that  it  was  passed  in  con- 
sequence of  a  conspiracy  of  slaves  in  and  around  Rich- 
mond, for  which  the  conspirators,  under  existing  laws, 
might  be  doomed  to  death.  It  was  deemed  more  hu- 
mane, and  it  was  hoped  not  less  expedient,  to  transport 

*  Known  in  Hopkins's  correspondence  as  Salmur  Nubia,  and  familiarly  iu 
Newport  as  Jack  Mason. 


66  AMERICAN    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY. 

such  offenders  beyond  the  limits  of  the  State.  President 
Jefferson  favored  the  idea,  discussed  the  objections  to 
several  locations,  said  that "  Africa  would  offer  a  last  and 
undoubted  resort,"  and  promised  his  assistance.  The 
Legislature,  Jan.  16,  1802,  directed  a  continuance  of 
the  corresjDondence,  "for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a 
place  without  the  limits  of  "  the  United  States,  "  to  which 
free  negroes  or  mulattoes,  and  such  negroes  or  mulattoes 
as  may  be  emancipated,  may  be  sent  or  choose  to  re- 
move as  a  place  of  asylum ; "  requesting  the  President 
"  to  prefer  Africa,  or  any  of  the  Spanish  or  Portuguese 
settlements  in  South  America."  This  resolution  differs 
from  the  former,  in  that  it  does  not  contemplate  a 
penal  colony,  and  does  contemplate  increased  facilities 
for  emancipation,  in  a  mode  which  the  State  did  not 
esteem  dangerous.  The  President  corresponded  with  the 
British  Government  concerning  Sierra  Leone,  and  with 
the  Portuguese  concerning  their  possessions  in  South 
America,  but  without  success.  In  1805,  Jan.  22,  a  reso- 
lution was  passed,  instructing  the  senators  and  request- 
ing the  representatves  from  that  State  to  endeavor  to 
procure  a  suitable  territory  in  Louisiana.  No  action 
followed,  and  the  matter  slept  ten  years.  Yet  the  pro- 
position of  Ann  Mifflin,  and  the  correspondence  of  John 
Lynd  with  Thomas  Jefferson  in  1811,  showed  that  the 
idea  was  still  alive  and  at  work. 

Another  of  these  numerous  origins  must  be  noticed. 
In  the  spring  of  1808,  a  few  undergraduates  of  Williams 
College,  Mass.,  formed  themselves  into  a  society,  whose 


HISTORICAL  DISCOURSE.  67 

object  was,  "  to  effect,  in  the  persons  of  its  members,  a 
mission  or  missions  to  the  heathen."  In  about  two 
years,  this  society  was  transferred  to  the  Theological 
Seminary  at  Andover,  of  which  most  of  them  had  become 
members.  Here  they  procured  the  formation  of  a  "  So- 
ciety of  Inquiry  respecting  Missions ; "  and  there  was 
thenceforth  the  chief  seat  of  their  labors.  With  becoming 
modesty,  they  regarded  themselves  as  little  else  than 
mere  school-boys,  competent,  indeed,  to  make  inquiries, 
collect  information,  and  discover  wants  that  ought  to  be 
supplied,  but  needing  the  guidance  of  older  and  wiser 
men  to  mature  judicious  plans  and  execute  them  suc- 
cessfully. The  proposal  of  four  of  them  to  go  on  a  mis- 
sion to  the  heathen  in  foreign  lands,  led  directlj^  to  the 
formation  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions.  Suggestions  from  these  young  men, 
or  some  of  them,  also  led  to  the  formation  of  the 
American  Bible  Society,  and,  though  in  some  cases  less 
directly,  several  other  kindred  institutions,  for  which  the 
state  of  feeling  in  the  religious  world  was  prepared. 

Samuel  J.  Mills  has  been  commonly  regarded  as  the 
leader  of  these  inquirers.  With  a  companion,  he  made  a 
journey  of  inquiry  through  large  parts  of  the  new  settle- 
ments in  the  United  States,  especially  the  south-western 
part.  He  came  back  with  the  knowledge  of  many  wants 
to  be  supplied,  and  fully  convinced,  that,  to  use  his  own 
words,  "  We  must  save  the  negroes,  or  the  negroes  will 
ruin  us;"  and  that  there  was  so  much  at  the  South  of  right 
feeling  towards  the  negroes,  that  something  might  be 


68  AMKKirAX    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY. 

done  towards  saving  them.  The  matter  was  abundant- 
ly discussed.  A  colony  was  proposed,  somewhere  in  the 
vast  wilderness  between  the  Ohio  and  the  great  lakes. 
But  one  of  them  at  length  objected  to  that  location. 
"  Whether  any  of  us  live  to  see  it  or  not,"  said  he,  "  the 
time  will  come  when  white  men  will  want  all  that  region, 
and  will  have  it,  and  our  colony  will  be  overwhelmed 
by  them."  So  they  concluded  that  the  colony  must  be 
in  Africa. 

Mills  went  to  New  Jersey,  to  study  theology  with  Dr. 
Griffin  at  Newark,  and  still  more,  as  Dr.  Griffin  soon 
thought,  to  engage  him  and  other  leading  men  in  that 
region  in  considering  whether  certain  good  objects  could 
be  accomplished,  and  how.  While  there,  he  originated 
the  school  for  the  education  of  pious  blacks  at  Parsip- 
pany,  some  thirty  miles  from  Princeton.  It  was  placed 
under  the  care  and  patronage  of  the  Synod  of  New 
Jersey ;  and  thus  the  Presbyterian  clergy  of  that  State 
were  brought  into  active  connection  with  Mills,  and  his 
idea  of  saving  the  negro.  His  project  of  a  colony  north 
of  the  Ohio,  or  somewhere  else,  was  well  known  to  Dr. 
Alexander  of  Princeton,  and  doubtless  to  others. 

Among  the  most  eminent  of  that  clergy  was  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Robert  Finley.  No  record  has  been  found  of  any  di- 
rect intercourse  between  him  and  Mills  ;  and  there  is  no 
reason  to  suspect  that  Mills  furnished  him  with  a  plan 
of  a  society,  to  be  formed  at  Washington,  for  colonizing 
free  blacks  in  Africa.  That  plan  seems  to  have  developed 
itself  in  his  own  mind,  while  contemplating  that  class  of 


HISTORICAL  DISCOURSE.  69 

facts  to  which  Mills  was  so  busily  calling  attention  ;  and 
it  is  certain  that  he  had  it  under  consideration  as  early 
as  February,  1815.  From  about  that  timCj  he  was  in- 
dustrious in  recommending  it  to  his  friends ;  but  they, 
while  admitting  that  its  object  was  good,  generally  dis- 
trusted its  success.  After  probably  nearly  two  years  of 
such  labor,  he  called  a  public  meeting  at  Princeton,  to 
consider  the  subject ;  but  few  besides  the  Faculties  of  the 
College  and  the  Theological  Seminary  attended,  and 
only  Dr.  Alexander  appears  to  have  aided  him  in  com- 
mending it.  Still  he  persevered ;  and  when  Congress  as- 
sembled, early  in  December,  1816,  repaired  to  Washing- 
ton, to  attempt  the  formation  of  his  proposed  society. 
On  his  arrival,  he  went  at  once  to  his  brother-in-law, 
Elias  B.  Caldwell.  That  these  brothers  had  previously 
corresponded  on  the  subject,  is  a  probable  conjecture,  but 
not  a  known  fact.  Yet  the  idea  of  colonization  was  not 
then  new  to  Mr.  Caldwell.  It  had  already  been  sug- 
gested from  another  source. 

Late  in  February,  1816,  the  Virginia  secret  resolutions 
and  correspondence  of  1801-05  first  became  kiiown  to 
Charles  Fenton  Mercer,  a  member  of  the  Legislature  of 
that  State.  Not  being  under  the  obligation  of  secrecy,  he 
at  once  made  them  known  extensively  in  the  State,  and 
pledged  himself  to  renew  them  at  the  next  session  of  the 
Legislature.  Being  at  Washington,  —  it  must  have  been 
in  March  or  April,  —  he  made  known  the  facts  and  his 
intentions  to  two  friends.  One  was  his  old  schoolmate 
at  Princeton,  Elias  B.  Caldwell,  who  approved  his  object, 


70  AMERICAN  COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

and  promised  to  use  his  influence  with  his  Presbyterian 
friends  in  New  Jersey  in  favor  of  it.  The  other  was 
Francis  S.  Key,  who  would  attempt  a  similar  movement 
in  Maryland,  Gen.  Mercer  redeemed  his  pledge.  His 
proposed  resolution  passed  the  House  of  Delegates,  Dec. 
14,  by  a  vote  of  132  to  14,  and  the  Senate,  Dec.  23, 
with  one  dissenting  vote.  This  was  done  without  any 
knowledge  of  the  plans  and  movements  of  Dr.  Finley  for 
forming  a  society,  and  indeed  without  any  expectation 
that  a  society  would  be  formed.  His  idea  was,  that 
colonization  would  be  carried  by  the  State  Govern- 
Inents,  under  the  sanction  and  protection  of  the  National 
Government.  Still,  this  expression  of  Virginia's  mind 
rendered  important  and  perhaps  indispensable  aid  to 
the  formation  and  success  of  the  Society  ;  for  the  action 
of  the  House  of  Delegates  was  known  in  Washington 
before  Gen.  Mercer's  resolution  had  passed  the  Senate, 
and  before  any  public  meeting  was  holden  to  form  a 
society. 

To  arrange  that  meeting,  and  secure  attendance  upon 
it,  cost  Dr.  Finley  no  slight  labor.  The  goodness  of  the 
object  was  generally  admitted  ;  but,  at  the  preliminary 
consultations,  those  invited  and  expected  were  generally 
absent.  Charles  Marsh,  member  of  Cong^ress  from  Ver- 
mont,  noticed  this  disposition  of  almost  everybody  to 
leave  this  good  work  to  others;  and,  as  this  was  the 
only  project  that  he  had  ever  heard  of,  promising  great 
good  to  the  black  race,  he  determined  that  it  should  not 
be  allowed  to  die  in  that  way.     He  decided  that  those 


HISTORICAL   DISCOUKSE.  71 

who  knew  the  plan  to  be  a  good  one  should  attend  the 
meetings.  Of  course,  as  all  who  ever  knew  his  inex- 
haustible adroitness  and  persistency  will  easily  under- 
stand, "a  very  respectable  mumber"  of  them  at- 
tended the  first  public  meeting,  Dec.  21,  1816.  Henry 
Clay,  in  the  necessary  absence  of  Judge  Washington, 
was  called  to  the  chair.  Elias  B.  Caldwell,  the  brother- 
in-law  of  Dr.  Finley  and  the  schoolmate  and  friend  of 
Gen.  Mercer,  perfectly  informed  of  the  plans  and  move- 
ments of  both,  made  the  leading  argument  in  favor  of 
forming  a  society.  He  stated  that  public  attention  had 
been  called  to  the  subject  in  New  Jersey,  New  York, 
Indiana,  Tennessee,  Virginia,  and  perhaps  other  places. 
He  was  supported  by  remarks  from  John  Randolph  of 
Virginia,  and  Robert  Wright  of  Maryland.  A  committee 
was  appointed  to  prepare  a  constitution,  and  the  meet- 
ing adjourned  for  one  week. 

At  the  adjourned  meeting,  Dec.  28,  the  committee 
reported  a  constitution,  which  was  adopted.  Fifty 
gentlemen  affixed  their  names  to  it  as  members.  The 
twenty-third  name  on  the  list  is  Samuel  J.  Mills.  What 
brought  him  there  at  that  time,  and  what  he  was  about 
while  there,  we  can  only  infer  from  other  parts  of  his 
history. 

Jan.  1,  1817,  the  day  fixed  by  the  Constitution,  the 
Society  met  for  the  election  of  officers.  Hon.  Bushrod 
Washington,  of  Virginia,  was  chosen  President,  with 
twelve  Vice-Presidents,  from  nine  States,  including 
Georgia,  Kentucky  and  Massachusetts,  and   one  from 


72  AMERICAN  COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

the  District  of  Columbia.  Dr.  William  Thornton,  whose 
visit  to  Dr.  Hopkins  in  1787  has  already  been  men- 
tioned, was  a  member  of  tlie  Board  of  Managers. 

Thus  the  Society  was  formed  and  organized,  not  by 
the  labors  of  any  one  projector,  or  by  the  influence  of 
a  movement  in  any  one  part  of  the  country,  but  by  the 
union  of  the  tendencies  which,  remote  from  each  other 
and  independent  of  each  other,  had  been  working 
towards  that  result  for  more  than  forty  years.  That 
the  Virginia  movement,  or  the  New-Jersey  movement, 
or  the  New-England  movements,  would  have  accom- 
plished any  thing  without  the  union  of  all,  some  may 
perhaps  believe,  but  flxcts  have  not  proved.  Its  true 
origin  was,  in  the  desire  of  good  men  everywhere  to 
do  the  best  thing  then  practicable  for  the  black  race,  in 
this  country  and  in  Africa;  that  desire  prompting  all 
these  movements,  and  sustaining  them  when  providenti- 
ally united  in  one. 

Gen.  Mercer  was  not  present  at  the  formation  of  the 
Society.  His  plan  was,  colonization  by  the  National  and 
State  Governments;  and,  late  in  life,  he  expressed  a 
doubt  whether  more  good  would  not  have  been  done 
by  such  action,  if  no  Society  had  been  formed  ;  as  the 
movement  would  then  have  had  the  united  support  of 
the  South,  which  was  lost  by  bringing  Northern  men 
into  the  movement,  and  thus  throwing  important  South- 
ern interests  "  open  to  the  public  discussions  and  acts  of 
a  Society  spread  through  the  United  States,  and  to  the 
interference  of  other  counsellors  and  agents  than  their 


HISTORICAL   DISCOURSE.  73 

own  Government."  At  the  time,  however,  he  made  no 
such  objection.  His  confidential  friends  took  a  leading 
part  in  the  formation  of  the  Society,  and  he  himself  be- 
came one  of  its  most  active  and  efficient  supporters. 
In  a  few  weeks,  he  procured  the  formation  of  several 
auxiliaries  in  Virginia.  He  procured,  by  personal  solici- 
tation, large  donations  to  its  funds.  He  wrote  several 
of  its  earlier  Reports.  He  rendered  various  services, 
without  which  it  is  not  easy  to  see  how  the  Society 
could  ever  have  become  active. 

The  first  step  towards  planting  a  colony  in  Africa 
was,  to  find  and  procure  a  location  where  it  might  be 
planted  and  prosper.  For  this  purpose,  Africa  must  be 
visited,  and  preliminary  arrangements  made.  Samuel  J. 
Mills  offered  himself  for  that  service,  was  accepted,  and 
authorized  to  select  his  companion.  He  selected  his 
friend,  Ebenezer  Burgess,  now  Rev.  Dr.  Burgess,  of 
Dedham,  Mass.,  the  man  who,  years  before,  had  opposed 
the  plan  for  colonizing  north  the  Ohio,  because  white 
men  would  want  that  country,  and  argued  that  the 
colony  must  be  in  Africa.  Their  letter  of  instructions 
was  dated  Nov.  6,  1817.  Money  to  repay  the  expense 
of  the  expedition  was  borrowed,  and  the  loan  repaid 
from  funds  raised  by  Gen.  Mercer  and  Rev.  William 
Meade,  afterwards  Bishop  Meade  of  Virginia. 

They  sailed  Nov.  16  ;  Mills  remarking  to  one  of  his 
associates  in  these  movements,  as  he  was  about  to  em- 
bark, "  This  is  the  most  important  enterprise  in  which 
I  have  ever  been  engaged."     Arriving  in  England  in 

10 


74  am?:rican  colonization  society. 

December,  thej  were  courteously  received  by  His  Royal 
Highness  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  Patron  and  Presi- 
dent, and  by  the  other  officers  of  the  African  Institution. 
Mr.  Wilberforce  introduced  them  to  Lord  Bathurst, 
Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonies,  who  gave  them 
letters  to  the  Governor  and  other  officers  at  Sierra 
Leone,  directing  them  to  aid  the  explorers  in  their  ex- 
plorations. Having  touched  at  the  Gambia,  they  arrived 
at  Sierra  Leone,  March  22,  1818.  The  Governor  and 
other  officers  received  them  with  great  personal  kind- 
ness, and  very  literall}^  obeyed  the  instructions  of  the 
Home  Government,  as  to  furnishing  facilities  for  inquiry, 
but  did  not  conceal  their  unwillingness  that  an  Ameri- 
can Colony  should  be  established  in  their  vicinity.  The 
principal  merchants  felt  the  same  unwillingness. 

They  w^ere  more  cordially  received  by  the  members 
of  the  "  Friendly  Society,"  instituted  among  the  colo- 
nists at  the  suo;o:estion  of  Paul  Cuffee  in  1811.  Its 
President,  John  Kizell,  who  had  been  a  slave  in  the 
West  Indies  and  the  United  States,  entered  heartily  into 
their  plans,  accompanied  them  on  some  of  their  explo- 
rations, and  introduced  them  to  native  chiefs  over  whom 
he  possessed  much  influence.  They  examined  the  coast 
as  far  as  Sherbro,  obtained  promises,  that,  on  the  arrival 
of  colonists,  suitable  land  should  be  furnished  for  their 
settlement,  and  being  unable,  for  want  of  time  and  funds, 
to  visit  the  Bassa  Country,  Cape  Palmas,  Accra,  and  the 
Bight  of  Benin,  as   they   desired,   returned    to    Sierra 


HISTORICAL   DISCOURSE.  75 

Leone,  and,  May  22,  embarked  for  England  on  their 
homeward  voyage. 

When  they  left  home,  Mills  was  suffering  from  a  pul- 
monary disease.  The  climate  of  England  aggravated 
it.  That  of  Africa  suspended  its  operation,  as  it  often 
does.  A  few  days  after  leaving  Sierra  Leone  it  re- 
turned, aided  by  a  severe  cold ;  and  on  the  16th 
of  June,  he  gently  expired,  and  at  sunset  his  body  was 
committed  to  the  ocean.  Nearly  thirty  years  ago,  I 
wrote,  "  It  was  fitting  that  the  remains  of  such  a  man, 
whose  character  no  monument  could  suitably  represent, 
should  rest  where  none  could  be  attempted."  Now,  it 
has  been  made  my  duty  to  say,  that,  if  the  Society  will 
cause  a  monument  to  his  memory  to  be  erected  in  Libe- 
ria, the  funds  are  ready  to  defray  the  expense.  Liberia 
has  recorded  her  debt  to  both  explorers,  by  uniting  their 
names  in  the  name  of  Millsburgh,  which,  as  the  record 
states,  was  devised  for  that  purpose. 

Their  report  established  the  fact,  that  territory  might 
be  procured  and  a  colony  planted.  But  how  was  the 
Society  to  plant  a  colony,  with  less  than  three  thousand 
dollars  in  its  treasury,  and  its  receipts  less  than  one 
hundred  dollars  a  month  ?  "A  great  political  necessity  " 
furnished  the  means. 

The  Act  of  Congress  of  March  2,  1807,  had  prohib- 
ited the  importation  of  slaves  after  the  end  of  that 
year,  and  provided  for  punishing  the  importer ;  but  the 
slave  so  imported  became  subject,  like  all  other  persons, 
to   the  laws  of  the  State  in  which  he  was  found.     In 


76  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

several  of  the  States,  laws  were  enacted  and  legal  pro- 
ceedings devised,  under  which  it  was  still  found  profita- 
ble to  import  slaves,  and  incur  the  penalty,  if  it  could 
not  be  evaded,  as  it  often  was.  The  first  attempt  to 
interfere  with  this  policy  of  the  slave-traders  was  made 
by  the  legislature  of  Georgia.  That  legislature  enacted, 
Dec.  19,  1817,  that  the  Governor  should  take  all  such 
imported  slaves  out  of  the  hands  of  private  speculators 
into  his  own  custody,  and  sell  them  at  auction  for  the 
benefit  of  the  State  treasury ;  provided,  however,  that 
if  the  Colonization  Society  would  undertake  to  trans- 
port them  to  Africa,  and  would  pay  all  expenses  in- 
curred by  the  State,  the  Governor  was  requested  to  aid 
the  Society  as  he  might  deem  expedient.  This  was  the 
first  official  movement,  if  not  the  first  suggestion,  for 
the  return  of  recaptured  slaves  to  Africa. 

The  Act  of  Congress  of  April  20,  1818,  increased  the 
penalties  of  importation,  but  still  left  the  slaves  im- 
ported subject  to  the  laws  of  the  several  States,  and  the 
work  still  went  on. 

While  Gen.  Mercer  was  prepari^ig  the  Second  Annual 
Report,  to  be  presented  in  January,  1819,  his  attention 
was  drawn  to  these  laws,  and  the  practice  under  them. 
The  Report  discussed  the  subject,  and  about  forty  pages 
of  its  appendix  were  filled  with  documents  showing  the 
facts.  In  Congress,  Gen.  Mercer  procured  the  drafting 
of  a  bill  to  remedy  the  evil,  which  passed  both  Houses, 
and  was  approved  by  the  President,  Monroe,  March  3, 
1819.     By  this  Act,  all  slaves  illegally  imported,  or  taken 


HISTORICAL   DISCOURSE.  77 

at  sea,  were  to  be  kept  in  the  custody  of  the  United- 
States  Government  till  removed  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
United  States  ;  and  the  President  was  to  appoint  an 
agent  or  agents  on  the  coast  of  Africa  to  receive  them, 
and  the  sum  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  was 
appropriated  to  meet  the  expense. 

About  six  weeks  after  this  Act  was  passed,  the  Hon. 
W.  H.  Crawford  of  Georgia,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
found,  in  a  Georgia  newspaper,  an  advertisement  of 
illegally  imported  slaves,  to  be  sold  at  auction  under  the 
State  law  of  1817.  He  immediately  informed  the  Soci- 
ety ;  and  the  Rev.  William  Meade  was  sent  to  Georgia 
as  its  agent,  to  receive  them  in  behalf  of  the  Society. 
Litigation  with  Spanish  claimants  prevented  immediate 
success ;  but,  some  years  afterwards,  they  were  delivered 
to  the  Society,  and  sent  to  Africa.  There  was  then 
about  fifty  thousand  dollars  in  the  State  treasury,  as 
the  proceeds  of  such  sales.  This  the  Society  hoped  to 
obtain ;  but  there  was  no  law  authorizing  the  Governor 
to  pay  it  over,  and  it  was  not  done. 

President  Monroe,  as  appears  by  his  Message  of  Dec. 
17,  1819,  understood  the  law  of  March  3  to  mean,  that 
a  suitable  residence  must  be  provided,  on  the  coast  of 
Africa,  for  the  agents  and  those  intrusted  to  their  care. 
For  this  purpose  he  determined  to  send  a  ship  to  the 
coast,  with  two  agents,  and  the  necessary  men  and 
means  to  procure  a  place  and  make  it  habitable. 

Evidently,  this  work  of  the  Government  and  the  en- 
terprise  of  the  Society  might  best  be  prosecuted  by 


78  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

their  united  action  in  establishing  one  settlement,  where 
the  agents  of  both  should  reside,  and  to  which  emigrants 
and  recaptured  slaves  should  be  sent.  The  Government 
appointed  the  Rev.  Samuel  Bacon,  already  in  the  service 
of  the  Society,  as  its  agent,  with  whom  Mr.  John  P. 
Bankson  was  afterwards  associated.  The  Society  ap- 
pointed Dr.  Samuel  A.  Crozer  its  sole  agent.  The  Gov- 
ernment chartered  the  ship  "  Elizabeth,"  of  three  hun- 
dred tons,  and  "  agreed  to  receive  on  board  such  free 
blacks,  recommended  by  the  Society,  as  might  be  required 
for  the  purposes  of  the  agency."  Dr.  Crozer  took  out 
goods  and  stores  for  the  purchase  of  land  and  the  use  of 
the  emigrants.  The  emigrants  were  all  considered  as 
attached  to  this  joint  agency  of  the  Government,  and 
were  to  be  entirely  subjected  to  its  control  till  regularly 
discharged.  They  were  to  erect  cottages  for  at  least 
three  hundred  recaptured  Africans,  and  cultivate  land 
for  their  own  subsistence.  For  the  expenses  of  the 
expedition,  the  Government  placed  more  than  thirty 
thousand  dollars  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Bacon,  and  sent  a 
ship  of  war  to  co-operate.  Thus  provided,  the  "  Eliza- 
beth" sailed  from  New  York,  Feb.  6,  1820,  with  eighty- 
eight  emigrants  from  Virginia,  Maryland,  Pennsylvania, 
and  New  York. 

And  in  this  co-operation,  to  which  the  Government 
found  itself  forced  by  its  own  necessities,  the  Society 
first  found  the  power  to  go  forward  and  accomplish  its 
work.  And  if  the  ancients  were  right  in  considering 
the  immense  fountain  which  bursts  forth  by  the  side  of 


HISTORICAL  DISCOURSE.  79 

a  streamlet  and  transforms  it  into  a  river,  the  true 
source  of  the  river,  to  be  honored  by  altars  and  worship, 
with  equal  propriety  may  your  monuments  distinguish 
this  j)oint  in  the  stream  of  your  history. 

President  Monroe  appears  to  have  been  a  constant 
friend  of  colonization  ever  since  1801,  when,  as  Governor 
of  Virginia,  he  corresponded  with  Jefferson  on  the  sub- 
ject. He  gave  an  attentive  ear  to  the  Annual  Reports 
of  the  Society,  showing  the  condition  of  the  slave-trade, 
and  the  need  of  action  for  its  suppression.  His  known 
sentiments  encouraged  Gen.  Mercer  to  prepare  and  pro- 
cure the  enactment  of  the  law  of  1819.  His  interpreta- 
tion and  execution  of  that  law  furnished  the  means  by 
which  the  work  was  begun.  And  the  then  youthful  and 
ardent  friend,  whose  presence  forbids  fit  eulogy  now, 
was  right,  when  he  first  suggested  that  the  metropolis 
of  the  nascent  State  should,  by  its  name,  commemorate 
his  merits. 

The  first  emigrants  were  to  erect  houses  for  three 
hundred  recaptured  slaves.  The  whole  number  of  such, 
for  whom  the  Government  has  found  it  necessary  to 
provide  through  the  Society,  has  been  five  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  twenty-two.  The  resident  agency 
of  the  United  States  for  recaptured  Africans  continued, 
though  occasionally  vacant,  till  the  declaration  of  Libe- 
rian  independence.  All  this  could  not  have  been  done, 
and  well  done,  without  a  colony  large  and  strong  enough 
to  live  by  its  own  vitality  ;  and,  therefore,  the  substan- 
tial success  of  our  enterprise  was  a  national  necessity. 


80  AMERICAN  COLONIZATION  SOCIETY. 

Such,  as  we  have  seen,  were  the  forces  which  caused 
this  Society  to  be  formed ;  such  the  process  of  its  for- 
mation ;  such  the  national  need  of  its  aid,  which  pro- 
cured for  it  the  means  of  successful  activity.  Having 
seen  these,  let  us  pass  rapidly  over  events,  the  exciting 
and  tragic  interest  of  which  have  caused  them  to  be 
abundantly  recorded  elsewhere,  —  the  arrival  of  the 
"  Elizabeth  "  at  Sierra  Leone ;  the  cordial  reception  of 
the  emigrants  by  Kizell,  at  Campelar,  his  own  place  on 
Sherbro  Island ;  the  discouraging  attempts  to  purchase 
land  for  a  permanent  settlement,  defeated,  —  not  by  the 
treachery  of  Kizell,  for  he  was  no  traitor,  —  but  by 
secret  influences  from  those  at  Sierra  Leone,  who  wished 
the  colony  all  success,  but  at  a  much  greater  distance 
from  themselves ;  the  hardships,  sickness,  and  deaths 
heroically  endured ;  the  removal  from  Campelar  to 
Fourah  Bay ;  the  purchase  of  Cape  Mesurado  by  Capt. 
Stockton  and  Dr.  Ayres,  at  the  risk  of  their  lives ;  the 
arrival  of  the  colonists,  and  their  lodgment  on  an  island, 
Jan.  7, 1822  ;  the  occupation  of  the  Cape,  April  25;  the 
return  of  the  agents,  and  the  proposal  that  the  emi- 
grants also  should  return,  and  the  enterprise  be  aban- 
doned ;  the  heroic  reply  of  Elijah  Johnson,  "  No :  I 
have  been  two  years  searching  for  a  home  in  Africa, 
and  I  have  found  it;  and  I  shall  stay  here;"  the  heroic 
determinatiom  of  the  others  to  remain  with  him  ;  his  ap- 
pointment as  sole  agent ;  the  troubles  and  dangers  from 
the  first,  and  then,  and  afterwards,  from  a  host  of  native 
kings,  who  regretted  the  sale  of  the  Cape,  and  determined 


HISTORICAL  DISCOURSE.  81 

to  expel  or  exterminate  the  colony,  lest  it  should  inter- 
fere with  the  slave-trade  ;  the  offer  of  a  force  of  marines 
from  a  British  man-of-war,  if  Johnson  would  only  cede 
a  few  feet  of  ground  on  which  to  erect  a  British  flag ; 
his  prompt  reply,  "  We  want  no  flag-staff  put  up  here, 
that  will  cost  more  to  get  it  down  again  than  it  will  to 
whip  the  natives ; "  the  arrival  of  Ashmun,  and  his 
assumption  of  the  agency,  Aug.  9, 1822  ;  his  energetic 
labors,  both  diplomatic  and  military,  for  the  protection 
of  the  colony ;  the  assault  on  the  settlement  on  the 
morning-  of  Nov.  11,  by  about  eight  hundred  natives, 
and  their  repulse  by  the  thirty-five  colonists,  capable 
of  bearing  arms ;  the  second  assault,  by  perhaps  twice 
their  former  number,  Dec.  2,  and  their  final  defeat. 
Passing  by  all  these,  let  us  examine  a  crisis  in  the  affairs 
of  the  colony,  involving  and  elucidating  a  principle,  and 
itself  needing  elucidation. 

There  had  been  complaints  against  the  colonists  of 
turbulence  and  insubordination.  They,  in  turn,  accused 
the  Agents  of  oppression  and  other  offences.  The  trouble 
grew  into  what  was  called  "  mutiny  "  and  "  sedition." 
Numbers  utterly  refused  obedience  to  the  Agent,  and 
proceeded  to  take  forcibly  their  supply  of  food  from  the 
public  store.  How  can  we  account  for  the  fact,  that  such 
men  as  Lot  Cary,  and  others,  were  betrayed  into  such 
conduct  ?  True,  there  had  been  complaints  about  the 
distribution  of  lands,  and  other  acts  of  the  several  Agents, 
and  representations  had  been  sent  to  the  Society ;  but 

these  are  insufficient  to  explain  it. 
11 


82  AMEKICAJS"  COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

The  explanation  must  be  found  in  the  fact,  that  the 
colony  had  really  no  civil  government.  What  occupied 
the  place  of  a  civil  government  was  a  pure  despotism 
of  an  agent,  resting  on  no  legal  basis,  and  possessing 
no  physical  force  with  which  to  compel  obedience.  Of 
course,  the  colonists,  though  they  appear  to  have  been 
far  from  comprehending  the  difficulty,  felt  that  some- 
thing was  wanting,  something  out  of  order,  something 
wrong;  and  were  "  insubordinate," 

That  such  an  assertion  may  be  received,  it  needs  to 
be  proved.  Consider,  then,  that  the  "  Elizabeth  "  and 
her  company  were  sent  out  by  the  United  States,  and  not 
by  the  Society.  Ship,  mone}^,  and  men  were  under  the 
direction  of  the  government's  agents,  with  instructions 
to  build  houses  for  three  hundred  recaptured  slaves. 
Their  instructions  said,  "  You  are  not  to  exercise  any 
power  or  authority  founded  on  the  principles  of  coloni- 
zation, but  to  confine  yourselves  to  that  of  performing 
the  benevolent  intentions  of  the  Act  of  Congress  of 
March  3,  1819."  And  the  President,  in  his  message  of 
Dec.  20,  1819,  said  that  they  would  receive  "an  ex- 
press injunction  to  exercise  no  power  founded  on  the 
principle  of  colonization,  or  other  power  than  that  of 
performing  the  benevolent  offices  above  recited,  by  the 
permission  and  sanction  of  the  existing  government 
under  which  they  may  establish  themselves."  There  is 
not  only  no  authority  given  to  the  agents  to  establish  a 
government,  but  an  express  assumption  that  the  place 
selected  would  be  under  a  government  existing  inde- 


HISTORICAL  DISCOURSE.  §3 

penclentlj  of  them,  "  by  the  permission  and  sanction  " 
of  which  they  would  act.  Evidently  the  colonists  had 
no  civil  government  derived  from  this  source. 

Does  the  deed  of  cession  by  which  the  territory 
was  holden  throw  any  light  on  the  subject  ?  That 
deed 

"  Witnesseth,  That  whereas  certain  persons,  citizens  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  are  desirous  to  establish  themselves  on 
the  western  coast  of  Africa,  and  have  invested  Capt.  Robert  F. 
Stockton  and  Eli  Ayres  with  full  powers  to  treat  with  and  purchase 
fi-om  us,  the  said  kings,  princes  and  headmen,  certain  lands 
[which  are  described],  we  do  hereby,  in  consideration  of  [certain 
specified  articles  of  merchandise],  forever  cede  and  relinquish  the 
above-described  lands  to  Capt.  Robert  F.  Stockton  and  Eli 
Ayres,  To  Have  and  To  Hold  the  said  premises  for  the  use  of 
these  said  citizens  of  America." 


We  must  carefully  observe  that  Capt.  Stockton  and 
Dr.  Ayres  do  not  appear  in  this  transaction  as  agents  of 
the  United  States,  or  of  the  Colonization  Society,  but 
as  agents  of  "  certain  persons  "  who  were  "  desirous  of 
establishing  themselves  on  the  western  coast  of  Africa," 
that  is,  of  the  colonists.  The  colonists,  the  deed  says, 
had  invested  them  with  full  powers  to  treat  with  kings 
for  the  cession  of  territory.  Certainly,  land  bought  by 
their  authorized  agents  for  their  use,  and  ceded  for  their 
use  "  forever,"  was  their  land.  It  never  became  the 
property  of  the  United  States,  or  of  the  Society.  The 
next  paragraph  confirms  this  view  :  — 


84  AMERICAN  COLONIZATION  SOCIETY. 

"The  contracting  parties  pledge  themselves  to  live  in  peace  and 
friendship  forever ;  and  do  further  contract  not  to  make  war,  or 
otherwise  molest  or  disturb  each  other." 

The  "  contracting  parties  "  who  thus  mutually  pledge 
themselves  are  evidently  the  kings,  princes  and  head- 
men, on  the  one  part,  and  the  colonists  on  the  other. 

With  the  right  of  soil,  the  right  of  jurisdiction  passed 
from  the  kings  to  the  other  contracting  party,  —  the 
colonists.  They  were  the  supreme  lords  of  the  soil,  and 
had  a  natural  right  to  organize  and  establish  a  govern- 
ment for  it.  But  they  had  not  exercised  that  right. 
There  was  no  existing  civil  government  resting  on  that 
basis. 

The  Society  had  acted  on  this  subject  seasonably.  Its 
Board  of  Managers,  June  26,  1820,  while  the  emigrants 
were  still  at  Campelar,  adopted  a  "  Constitution  for  the 

Government  of   the  African  Settlement  at ."     Of 

course,  it  could  not  go  into  operation  as  a  civil  gov- 
ernment  "  at ,"  or  at   all,  while  they  were  living 

within  the  jurisdiction  of  some  other  government 
already  established.  Its  first  article,  as  amended  Dec. 
20,  was, — 

"All  persons  born  within  the  limits  of  the  territory  held  by  the 

American  Colonization    Society   in   ,  or  remaining  there  to 

reside,  shall  be  free,  and  entitled  to  all  such  rights  and  privileges 
as  are  enjoyed  by  the  citizens  of  the  United  States." 

By  its  own  terms,  it  applied  only  to  territory  held  by 


HISTOEICAL  DISCOURSE.  85 

the  Society;  and  Cape  Mesurado,  as  has  been  shown, 
was  not  held  by  the  Society,  but  by  Capt.  Stockton  and 
Dr.  Ayres,  as  agents  of  the  emigrants  ;  that  is,  by  the 
emigrants  themselves.  What  authority  had  a  consti- 
tution, formed  by  an  unincorporated  association  of 
private  individuals  in  another  country,  three  thousand 
miles  off,  over  a  territory  which  was  not  their  property, 
but  the  property  of  its  inhabitants,  who,  acting  as  a 
sovereign  people,  had  procured  it  by  a  treaty  of  cession 
and  peace  with  sovereign  princes  ?  The  seventh  arti- 
cle however,  provides  that  "  every  settler  coming  to  the 
age  of  twenty-one  years,  and  those  now  of  age,  shall 
take  an  oath  or  affirmation  to  support  the  constitution." 
Mr.  Ashmun,  in  his  address  to  the  colonists,  March  22, 
1824,  reminded  them  that  they  had  taken  that  oath.  By 
that  oath,  the  individuals  who  took  it  certainly  placed 
themselves  under  a  moral  obligation  to  obey  the  consti- 
tution thus  made  for  them  by  others,  though  they  had 
never  adopted  it,  as  a  body,  by  any  public  act.  Let  us 
look,  then,  at  its  provisions. 

The  first  article,  as  we  have  seen,  provides  that  all 
the  colonists  should  be  entitled  to  "  all  such  rights  and 
privileges  as  are  enjoyed  by  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States."  The  word  "  citizens,"  having  been  substituted 
by  amendment  for  "free  people,"  must  be  taken  to 
secure  all  the  rights  and  privileges  by  which  citizens  are 
distinguished  from  "  people  "  merely  "  free."  The  oath 
bound  them  to  support  this  article  as  much  as  any 
other. 


86  AMERICAN  COLONIZATION  SOCIETY. 

"  Art.  2.  —  The  Colonization  Society  sliall,  from  time  to  time, 
make  all  such  rules  as  they  may  think  fit  for  the  government  of 
the  settlement,  until  they  shall  withdraw  their  agents,  and  leave 
the  settlers  to  govern  themselves." 

This  expressly  takes  from  these  "  citizens  "  the  "  right 
and  privilege  "  of  making  any  law  or  "  rule  "  for  their 
own  government,  and  subjects  them  to  whatever  rules 
the  Society  shall  "  see  fit "  to  make  for  them ;  and,  taken 
in  connection  with  the  tenth  article,  restrains  them  from 
the  ''  right  and  privilege  "  of  altering  or  amending  their 
own  constitution,  and  confers  that  right  on  the  Man- 
agers of  the  Society.  The  eighth  article  confers  unlim- 
ited legislative  power  on  the  Society's  resident  Agents, 
subject  only  to  repeal  by  the  Board  of  Managers. 

The  third  article  invests  the  Agents  with  all  judicial 
power,  except  such  as  they  should  delegate  to  Justices 
of  the  Peace  of  their  own  appointment,  if  they  should 
choose  to  appoint  any. 

The  fourth  article  gives  the  Agents  the  appointment 
of  all  officers  not  appointed  by  the  Board  of  Managers, 
and  of  judging  for  themselves  what  officers  are  needed. 

The  "settlers"  being  thus  deprived  of  all  voice  in 
their  own  government,  either  in  the  making  of  laws  or 
the  choice  of  officers  to  administer  them,  it  is  not  easy 
to  see  what  rights  and  privileges  enjoyed  by  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  in  distinction  from  people  merely 
free,  were  left  to  them. 

It  does  not  appear  from  any  published  record,  that 
the  colonists  understood  those  legal  difficulties ;  but  it 


HISTORICAL   DISCOURSE.  87 

is  evident  from  their  conduct  that  they  did  not  feel  that 
reverence  for  laws  thus  made  for  them,  which  American 
"  citizens  "  usually  feel  for  laws  in  the  making  of  which 
they  have  borne  their  part.  There  was  "  insubordina- 
tion." Ashmun,  faithful  to  the  Society  and  to  his  own 
convictions,  did  his  best  to  repress  it,  but  in  vain.  Com- 
plaints were  sent  to  the  Society  against  his  administra- 
tion ;  and  the  evil  increased,  till,  in  utter  discouragement, 
he  put  the  government  into  the  hands  of  Elijah  John- 
son, and  embarked  for  the  Cape  Verde  Islands.  He  had 
already  informed  the  Board  of  Managers,  that,  in  his 
opinion,  "  the  evil  was  incurable  by  any  means  which 
fall  within  their  existing  provisions." 

In  this  emergency,  the  Government,  on  representa- 
tions of  the  Society,  sent  out  the  armed  schooner  "Por- 
poise," with  Ralph  Randolph  Gurley,  a  young  man  then 
unknown  to  fame,  duly  commissioned  and  empowered 
by  the  Government  and  the  Society  to  ascertain  the 
condition  of  affairs,  and  "  to  make  such  temporary  ar- 
rangements for  the  security  of  the  public  interests  and 
the  government  of  the  establishment,  as,  upon  proper 
consideration,  circumstances  might,  in  his  judgment, 
require."  Touching  at  Porto  Praya,  he  unexpectedly 
met  Mr.  Ashmun,  who  returned  with  him  to  Cape 
Mesurado,  where  they  arrived  Aug.  13,  1824. 

On  their  voyage  of  three  weeks  to  the  Cape,  they 
carefully  discussed  these  troubles,  their  causes,  and  their 
remedy.  After  their  arrival,  the  colonists  were  heard 
and    consulted,   misapprehensions   were    dispelled,   and 


88  AJVIERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

specific  grievances  received  satisfactory  attention.  But 
the  chief  attention  was  given  to  estabHshing  "  an  effi- 
cient government,  founded  in  the  approbation  of  the 
people,  and  adaptable  not  only  to  their  present  but 
future  necessities."  The  probable  necessity  of  such  a 
work  had  occurred  to  Mr.  Gurley  on  his  voyage  from 
the  Cape  Yerdes,  if  not  before ;  and  facts  ascertained 
after  his  arrival  fully  proved  it. 

In  the  end,  a  "Plan  for  the  Civil  Government  of 
Liberia"  was  adopted,  according  to  which  there  was  to 
be  a  Vice-agent,  appointed  by  the  Agent  from  three 
nominated  by  the  people,  unless  he  saw  fit  to  disapprove 
the  choice  and  order  a  new  election.  He  was  to  advise 
and  assist  the  Agent,  and  perform  his  duties  in  case  of 
absence  or  disability.  Two  Councillors,  to  be  associated 
with  the  Vice-agent  as  a  council  on  all  public  aflflxirs,  and 
several  important  committees,  were  to  be  appointed  in 
like  manner.  There  was  to  be  a  judiciary,  consisting  of 
the  Agent  and  two  Justices  of  the  Peace  appointed  by 
him;  and  he  was  to  appoint  the  necessary  executive 
officers.  The  supremacy  of  the  Society,  in  cases  of  last 
resort,  was  retained  and  established. 

The  colonists,  now  increased  to  a  hundred,  were  con- 
vened "beneath  the  thatched  roof  of  the  first  rude 
house  for  divine  worship  ever  erected  in  the  colony." 
The  Plan  of  Government  was  read  and  explained  to 
them,  and  received  their  unanimous  approval,  and  sol- 
emn pledge  "to  maintain  it  as  the  constitution  of  their 
choice."     Receiving  also  the  assent  of  the  special  Agent 


HISTORICAL   DISCOURSE.  89 

of  the  Society  and  the  United  States,  sent  out  with  full 
power  on  their  part  "  to  establish  a  government,"  no  one 
could  deny  that  it  was,  from  that  hour,  in  force  on  a 
legitimate  basis;  and,  with  amendments  and  changes 
regularly  made  as  occasions  have  required,  it  is  in  force 
still. 

True,  the  Society  had  still  the  ultimate  decision  of  all 
questions  of  government;  but  it  henceforth  held  this 
power,  not  by  its  own  assumption,  but  by  the  vote  of 
the  people,  who,  by  their  own  act,  made  the  Society  a 
department  of  their  own  government. 

This  change  was  not  the  work  of  Mr.  Ashmun.  He 
distrusted  the  fitness  of  the  colonists  to  take  any  part 
in  the  government,  and  only  consented  to  it  as  an  ex- 
periment, because  some  change  must  be  made.  He  was 
even  alarmed  at  its  ready  and  unanimous  acceptance  by 
the  people,  fearing  that  they  did  not  understand  it,  or 
reserved  the  expression  of  their  dissent  for  a  more 
favorable  opportunity. 

Neither  was  it  the  work  of  the  Board  of  Managers. 
When  reported  to  them,  they  resolved,  Dec.  29,  1 824, 
that  "  such  parts  as  could  not  well  be  dispensed  with 
might  be  tried  as  an  experiment  of  the  Agent,"  but 
gave  it  no  further  sanction  ;  and  in  their  Annual  Report 
in  January,  without  publishing  it,  plainly  intimated 
their  dissent. 

The  whole  responsibility,  therefore,  for  this  Plan  of 
Government,  rested  on  him  who  proposed  it  and  those 
who  adopted  it.     Events  soon  justified  their  action,  even 

12 


90  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

in  the  judgment  of  those   who  at  first  condemned  it 
At  a  meeting  held  May  18,  1825,  it  was 

"  Resolved,  That  tlie  Board  of  Managers,  considering  the  satis- 
factory information  aftbrded  by  recent  accounts  from  the  colony 
of  the  successful  operation  of  the  plan  for  the  civil  government 
thereof,  as  established  by  their  Agents  in  August  last,  and  seeing 
therein  reasons  to  reconsider  their  instructions  to  the  Agent  of  the 
29th  of  December,  1824,  now  approve  the  principles  in  that  form 
of  government,  and  give  their  sanction  to  the  same." 

And  in  their  next  Annual  Report,  January,  1826,  they 
say,— 

"  The  new  system  of  government  organized  in  the  colony  im- 
mediately after  the  return  of  the  present  Agent,  Mr.  Ashmun,  fi'om 
the  Cape  de  Verdes,  has  i-esulted  in  the  most  beneficial  effects. 
It  was  deemed  important  to  render,  as  far  as  practicable,  all  the 
political  arrangements  of  the  colony,  so  many  preparatory  meas- 
ures to  its  independence  ;  and  to  this  end  is  the  government  which 
has  been  established  believed  to  be  particularly  adapted.  The 
whole  system  went  into  operation  with  the  full  sanction  of  the 
people.  The  spirit  of  restlessness  and  insubordination  ceased  from 
the  first  day  of  its  operation ;  indolence,  despondency,  and  distrust 
were  succeeded  by  industry,  enterprise,  and  confidence ;  and  the 
experience  of  more  than  a  year  has  confirmed  the  hope,  that  it 
will,  at  least  for  a  considerable  time,  fulfil  all  the  pur])oses  of  its 
institution." 

Mr.  Ashmun's  distrust,  also,  soon  disappeared.  His 
despatches  authorized  and  compelled  the  change  of  opin- 
ion in  the  Board  of  Managers.     He  soon  disbanded,  as 


J 


HISTORICAL   DISCOURSE.  Ql 

useless,  the  military  guard  of  twelve  men,  which  he  at 
first  thought  necessary  for  his  own  protection  amidst 
the  dangers  of  the  experiment.  And,  early  in  1828,  the 
Board  received  from  him  a  plan  of  government,  the 
same  in  principle,  and  to  some  extent  in  language ;  but 
drawn  out  in  much  greater  detail,  and  placing  a  much 
greater  amount  of  power  directly  in  the  hands  of  the 
people ;  and  at  a  meeting  of  the  Managers,  Oct.  22, 
1828,  it  was  adopted  by  them  as  the  Constitution  of  Li- 
beria. 

The  modesty  of  the  principal  actor,  and  his  delicate 
regard  for  the  feelings  of  others,  in  his  Life  of  Ashmun 
and  in  the  Annual  Reports  prepared  by  him,  have  made 
the  part  he  acted  less  prominent  than  its  merits  deserve. 
He  has  even  left  it  doubtful  how  far  he  saw  the  defects 
and  inconsistencies  of  the  original  constitution.  But  it 
is  enough  for  his  glory,  that  he  alone  among  white  men 
saw  the  safety  of  trusting  a  negro  people  with  some 
part  in  the  management  of  their  own  concerns;  and 
that,  by  boldly  acting  on  his  belief,  he  placed  his  name 
on  the  not  long  list  of  legislators  whose  wisdom  organ- 
ized States  on  principles  that  secured  peace,  permanen- 
cy, coherence,  and  a  healthy  growth. 

The  second  decade,  and  the  first  half  of  the  third,  — 
from  1830  to  1845, — were  distinguished  by  the  inde- 
pendent action  of  State  societies  ;  of  Maryland  first, 
purchasing  and  settling  Cape  Palmas ;  then  of  New 
York ;  then  of  Pennsylvania ;  then  of  Pennsylvania 
and  New  York  united,  and   the  planting  of  the  settle- 


92  AMERICAN    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY. 

ments  on  tlie  St.  John's  River  by  their  united  action ; 
the  setting  apart,  by  the  parent  Society,  of  lands  for 
the  Kentucky,  Mississippi,  and  Louisiana  Societies,  on 
which,  however,  separate  colonies  were  never  organized  ; 
the  plan  for  uniting  all  these  colonies,  planted  and  pro- 
jected, in  one  federal  republic ;  all  these  things  leading 
naturall}^  to  changes  in  the  constitution  of  the  Parent 
Society,  making  its  supreme  Board  of  Directors  mainly 
a  Board  of  Delegates  from  the  State  Societies.  A  prop- 
er discussion  of  this  period  would  require  a  laborious 
examination  of  the  published  and  unpublished  docu- 
ments of  the  Parent  and  the  several  State  Societies, 
and  of  the  often  conflicting  recollections  and  opinions 
of  living  witnesses.  Its  discussion  is  the  less  impor- 
tant, because  those  arrangements,  however  expedient 
or  even  necessary  they  may  have  been  or  appeared  to 
be  at  the  time,  have  passed  away.  Those  colonies  are 
now  only  parts  of  a  single  republic,  "  one  and  indivisi- 
ble ; "  and  though  most  of  the  State  Societies  still  retain 
the  power  of  separate  action,  they  find  little  occasion 
to  use  it.  Let  us,  therefore,  pass  on  to  the  next  topic 
involving  a  crisis. 

January,  1845,  the  Legislature  of  Liberia  was  in  ses- 
sion ;  for,  by  successive  amendments  of  her  constitution, 
she  now  had  a  legislature,  with  power  to  make  all  neces- 
sary laws,  subject,  however,  to  the  veto  of  the  Society. 
She  had  a  governor,  —  Joseph  J.  Roberts,  —  first  elected 
lieutenant-governor  by  the  people,  and  appointed  gov- 
ernor by  the  Society  after  the  death  of  Governor  Bu- 


HISTORICAL   DISCOURSE.  93 

chanan,  in  1841.  Her  government  was  authorized  to 
make  treaties  with  the  neighboring  tribes ;  but  these, 
also,  were  subject  to  the  veto  of  the  Society.  For  sev- 
eral years,  however,  the  Society  had  found  no  occasion 
demanding  the  exercise  of  its  veto  power.  By  treaties 
with  the  native  powers,  several  valuable  tracts  of  terri- 
tory had  been  acquired,  including  some  important  points 
for  trade  ;  and  settlements  had  been  made  upon  them, 
and  regular  government  established.  Laws  had  been 
enacted,  regulating  commerce,  and  imposing  duties  on 
imported  goods. 

For  several  centuries,  British  subjects  had  been  ac- 
customed to  trade  on  this  coast  for  slaves  and  other 
African  commodities.  Even  after  the  act  of  Parliament 
of  1807  prohibiting  the  slave-trade,  they  continued  the 
traffic  as  they  could.  Some  of  them  dealt  in  slaves,  at 
least  till  June,  1813,  when  His  Majesty's  ship  "Thais" 
landed  forty  men  at  Cape  Mesurado,  and  after  a  battle, 
in  which  they  lost  one  man  killed,  stormed  the  barra- 
coons  of  Bostock  and  McQuinn,  British  subjects,  and 
captured  their  owners.  When  direct  participation  in 
the  slave-trade  had  become  too  dangerous  to  be  con- 
tinued, they  still  carried  on  a  lucrative  commerce  with 
the  natives,  and  with  slave-traders  of  other  nations,  who 
were  glad  to  find  on  the  coast  a  supply  of  such  English 
goods  as  were  necessary  for  their  business.  Very  natu- 
rally, such  men  were  unwilling  that  a  regular  govern- 
ment, with  law,  civilization,  and  Christianity,  should  take 
possession  of  their  old  haunts  of  trade.     They  refused 


94  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

to  obey  the  laws.  They  landed  goods  without  paying 
duties ;  and  when  the  goods  were  seized  by  the  col- 
lector, and  sold  according  to  law,  they  applied  to  the 
British  Government  for  redress. 

That  Government  seems  to  have  been,  at  first,  some- 
what embarrassed.  It  opened  a  correspondence  with 
ours,  to  ascertain  whether  Liberia  was  a  colony  of  the 
United  States.  Our  government  replied,  through  Mr. 
Everett  at  London  and  Mr.  Upshur  at  Washington,  that 
Liberia  was  not  a  colony  of  the  United  States,  but  "  an 
independent  political  community,"  founded  for  benevo- 
lent purposes,  in  which  all  nations  ought  to  desire  its 
success ;  and  that,  as  such,  it  needed  and  had  a  right  to 
acquire  territory  and  govern  it,  which  right  all  nations 
ought  to  respect. 

Having  ascertained  this,  the  British  Government  at 
once  proceeded  to  sustain  the  claims  of  the  British 
traders,  denying  the  right  of  the  Liberians  to  acquire 
territory  by  treaty,  or  to  govern  that  lately  acquired ; 
though,  for  more  than  twenty  years,  they  had  been 
allowed,  without  objection,  to  acquire  and  govern  Cape 
Mesurado  and  other  important  places  ;  and  they  were 
made  to  understand  that  the  British  navy  would  enforce 
this  decision  of  the  British  Government. 

These  difficulties  were  now  before  the  legislature. 
What  could  be  done?  A  treaty  must  be  negotiated 
with  Great  Britain.  The  Liberian  Constitution  made 
no  provision  for  negotiating  treaties,  except  with  the 
neighboring  tribes,  and  those  subject  to  the  veto  of  the 


HISTORICAL   DISCOURSE.  95 

Society.  The  Society  was  not  a  sovereign  power,  with 
whom  Great  Britain  could  negotiate ;  nor  had  it,  under 
its  own  constitution  or  that  of  Liberia,  any  power  con- 
cerning treaties,  except  that  of  veto.  A  crisis  had  come, 
to  which  the  structure  of  the  Liberian  Government  was 
not  adapted.  The  legislature  informed  the  Society  of 
the  difficulties  and  dangers  growing  out  of  their  al- 
leged want  of  national  sovereignty,  and  requested  its 
consideration  and  advice. 

When  the  Directors  of  the  Society  met  in  Januafyj 
1846,  these  matters  had  been  before  their  minds  for 
months,  and  they  were  prepared  to  act.  The  constitu- 
tion of  the  Society  was  amended  in  several  respects,  and 
especially  by  striking  out  whatever  related  to  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  colonies.     It  was  then 

Resolved,  That,  in  the  opinion  of  tliis  Board,  tlie  time  has 
arrived  when  it  is  expedient  for  the  people  of  the  Common- 
wealth of  Liberia  to  take  into  their  own  hands  the  whole  work  of 
self-government,  including  the  management  of  all  their  foreign 
relations ;  and  that  this  Society  should  cease  to  exercise  any  part  of 
the  same. 

Resolved,  That  we  recommend  to  them  so  to  amend  their 
constitution,  as  is  necessary  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  object. 

Resolved,  That  we  recommend  to  them  to  publish  to  the  world 
a  declaration  of  their  true  character,  as  a  sovereign  and  independ- 
ent State. 

The  resolutions  took  this  shape  for  the  sake  of  avoid- 
ing all  appearance  of  conferring  rights  of  sovereignty  on 
the  people  of  Liberia.    Those  rights  were  theirs  already, 


96  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION    SOCIETY. 

and  had  been  ever  since  they  were  a  people.  They  were 
advised,  not  to  make  themselves  into  a  new  sovereign 
State  not  before  existing,  but  to  publish  a  declaration  of 
their  true  character,  as  being  one  already.  It  was  not 
for  the  Society  to  give  them  a  new  constitution.  It  was 
their  right  and  their  duty,  as  a  sovereign  people,  to 
make  one  for  themselves.  The  Society  did  not  relin- 
quish to  them  its  power  in  their  government.  What  it 
had,  they  had  conferred  upon  it  by  their  constitution, 
and  they  were  advised  to  take  it  away. 

On  the  reception  of  this  advice  in  Liberia,  the  legisla- 
ture, at  a  special  session,  instructed  the  governor  to 
submit  the  question  to  the  people  in  their  primary 
assemblies.  The  people  voted,  Oct.  27,  1846,  in  favor 
of  assuming  the  entire  responsibility  of  their  govern- 
ment. The  legislature,  at  its  next  session,  ordered  a 
convention  of  delegates  to  form  a  new  constitution. 
The  convention  assembled,  and,  after  twenty-one  days 
of  deliberation,  adopted,  on  the  twenty-sixth  day  of 
July,  1847,  their  new  Constitution  and  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence. In  September,  the  Constitution  was  ratified 
by  the  almost  unanimous  vote  of  the  people  in  their 
primary  assemblies.  The  Governor,  Joseph  J.  Roberts, 
was  elected  President.  On  the  third  day  of  January, 
1848,  he  delivered  his  inaugural  address  ;  and  the  new 
government  went  into  operation.  In  the  course  of  that 
year,  the  independence  of  the  Republic  was  formally 
acknowledged  by  the  governments  of  Great  Britain  and 


HISTORICAL  DISCOURSE.  97 

France.      It    has  since  been  acknowledged    by  nearly 
all  the  leadmg  States  of  Europe  and  America. 

Nor  is  the  young  Republic  without  influence  in  the 
family  of  nations.  In  1853,  agents  of  the  British  Gov- 
ernment were  endeavoring  to  prosecute  the  coolie-trade 
in  the  vicinity,  and  even  within  the  legal  jurisdiction, 
of  the  Republic.  The  vigorous  and  decided  measures  of 
President  Roberts  checked  it;  and,  after  a  few  words  in 
Parliament,  the  atternpt  was  abandoned.  A  few  years 
afterwards,  agents  of  the  French  Government  engaged 
in  a  similar  attempt  so  pertinaciously,  that  President 
Benson  was  obliged  to  send  his  predecessor  as  ambassa- 
dor to  Paris  on  the  subject.  The  result  was  the  entire 
abolition  of  that  traffic  on  the  whole  coast  of  Africa,  east 
as  well  as  west. 

It  was  a  remark  of  one  of  the  wisest  men  who  ever 
acted  as  agent  for  a  colonization  society,  that  Divine^ 
Providence  intends  Liberia  as  a  proof  to  all  nations,  that 
free  institutions  are  adapted  to  the  wants  and  capacities 
of  every  race  of  men.  To  prove  it,  God  has  taken  a 
portion  of  the  race  that  the  wisdom  of  this  world  would 
pronounce  —  indeed,  had  pronounced  —  the  most  inca- 
pable of  successful  self-government,  and  has  placed  the 
duty  and  burden  of  self-government  upon  them ;  and  they 
have  borne  it,  and  they  are  bearing  it,  with  complete 
success.  The  whole  history  of  Liberia  corroborates  this 
remark,  —  from  the  first  years  of  Ashmun,  when  affairs 
went  badly  for  want  of  self-government ;  from  Gurley's 
first    visit,    when    the    introduction    of  the    principle, 

13 


98  AMEIJICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

and  a  little  of  the  practice,  gave  peace  and  pros- 
perity ;  down  to  the  present  time,  when  that  little 
young  republic  is  not  only  recognized  as  one  in  the 
family  of  nations,  but  commands  a  degree  of  respect, 
and  exerts  an  amount  of  influence,  among  the  nations, 
altogether  out  of  proportion  to  her  population  or  her 
resources. 

The  principles  and  designs  from  which  she  originatr 
ed,  and  the  whole  course  of  her  history,  and  of  God's 
dealings  with  her,  authorize  us  to  offer  with  confidence 
the  prayer  for  her  perpetuity,  Esto  perpetua. 

A  few  words  are  demanded  by  a  topic  which  could 
not  be  introduced  in  its  chronological  place  without  dis- 
turbing the  continuity  of  the  narrative. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  when  Dr.  Hopkins  visited 
Dr.  Stiles,  in  1773,  it  was  to  consult  about  educating 
two  young  men  as  missionaries  to  Africa,  and  their  plan 
for  a  colony  grew  out  of  their  conviction  of  the  neces- 
sity of  such  a  basis  for  missionary  labors ;  and  that,  of 
the  young  men  educated  through  their  exertions,  two, 
in  1826,  when  they  were  old,  actually  sailed  to  Liberia, 
not  expecting  to  live  and  labor,  but  to  set  an  example 
of  Christian  enterprise  for  the  land  of  their  fathers. 
The  missionary  element,  it  is  w^ell  known,  was  strong  in 
the  minds  of  Mills  and  his  associates  at  Andover,  and 
of  Finley  and  his  brethren  in  New  Jersey.  However 
strong  it  may  have  been  in  the  minds  of  individuals  in 
Virginia,  it  could  not  well  show  itself  in  their  legislative 


HISTORICAL   DISCOURSE.  99 

action,  and  does  not,  therefore,  appear  on  the  record. 
But  it  was  actively  alive  among  the  colored  people  in 
that  State.  They,  even  as  early  as  1815,  before  our 
Society  was  formed,  organized  an  African  Missionary 
Society  in  Richmond,  which  contributed  from  a  hun- 
dred to  a  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  annually.  This 
might  be,  and  probably  was,  expended  in  the  support 
of  English  missions  at  or  near  Sierra  Leone.  In  1818, 
a  similar  society  was  formed  in  Petersburg,  which,  in 
April,  1819,  proposed  to  our  Society  that  some  of  its 
members  should  be  sent  out  as  colonists  for  missionary 
purposes.  The  Richmond  Society  sent  out  its  most  able 
and  zealous  member,  the  Rev.  Lot  Gary,  who  went  out  in 
our  second  company,  by  the  "Nautilus,"  arriving  at  Sierra 
Leone  in  March,  1821,  and  was  among  the  first  who 
took  possession  of  Cape  Mesurado.  The  Richmond  So- 
ciety is  understood  to  have  made  remittances  to  him 
for  several  years,  and  perhaps  to  the  close  of  his  life,  in 
1828.  Besides  his  labors  at  and  near  his  home,  he  com- 
menced a  mission,  fifty  miles  distant,  among  the  Vey 
people  at  Cape  Mount ;  employing  John  Revey,  after- 
wards Secretary  of  the  Maryland  Colony  at  Cape  Pal- 
mas,  as  a  schoolmaster.  It  was  of  short  continuance ; 
but  its  influence  on  the  mind  of  one  of  the  puj^ils  led  to 
the  invention,  years  afterwards,  of  the  syllabic  alphabet 
for  the  Vey  language,  the  discovery  of  which  by  a  Ger- 
man missionary,  after  it  had  been  long  in  use,  excited 
much  interest  in  the  literary  world. 

This   opening    for   missions    attracted    attention   in 


100  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

Europe.  In  October,  1825,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Bliimhardt, 
Principal  of  the  Missionary  College  at  Basle  in  Switzer- 
land, wrote  to  Mr.  Ashmun,  requesting  information  on 
the  subject.  Mr.  Ashmun  replied  favorably  the  next 
April.  Four  young  men  were  sent  out  as  missionaries. 
The  climate  did  not  allow  this  mission  to  be  permanent. 
Some  died,  and  the  health  of  others  failed ;  but,  before 
its  dispersion,  it  exerted  a  beneficial  influence,  especially 
on  the  minds  of  some  young  Liberians,  which  is  felt  to 
this  day. 

The  first  white  missionary  from  the  United  States 
appears  to  have  been  the  Rev.  Calvin  Holton,  a  Baptist, 
who  sailed  from  Boston  in  the  "  Vine,"  in  1826.  "  He 
was  not  suffered  to  continue,  by  reason  of  death."  He 
was  followed  by  a  noble  army  of  martyrs.  Baptist,  Meth- 
odist, Presbyterian,  and  Episcopalian ;  but  their  use- 
fulness has  consisted  mostly  in  the  support  and  direction 
given  to  pious  Liberians  who  have  labored  under  them 
or  with  them,  and  who  often  well  supplied  their  places 
when  vacant.  As  a  result,  nearly  all  the  churches  in 
the  Republic  contain  native  communicants,  who  are  con-' 
verts  from  heathenism. 

In  February,  March,  and  April,  1819,  two  missionary 
explorers  from  Sierra  Leone,  with  an  interpreter,  care- 
fully examined  the  whole  coast  from  Sherbro  to  the  St, 
John's  River.  They  suffered  repeatedly  from  theft,  de- 
tected and  defeated  two  conspiracies  to  rob  and  murder 
them,  and  returned,  having  found  no  place  where  a 
mission  could  be  hopefully  attempted.  Our  first  emi- 
grants sailed  in  February,  1820. 


HISTORICAL  DISCOURSE.  101 

Now,  that  whole  line  of  coast,  with  as  much  more  be- 
yond it  to  the  south  and  east,  some  five  hundred  and 
twenty  miles  in  all,  is  under  the  jurisdiction  of  a  Chris- 
tian State,  with  Christian  laws  and  institutions;  with 
its  common  schools,  high  schools,  and  college  ;  with  a 
nominally  Christian  population  of  some  fifteen  to  twen- 
ty thousand,  and  a  native  population  of  some  hundreds 
of  thousands,  among  whom  heathenism  has  lost  much 
of  its  power,  and  is  fast  losing  the  remainder ;  among 
whom  missionary  stations  are  numerous,  both  on  the 
coast  and  in  the  interior;  the  line  of  apparent  danger, 
or  even  difficulty,  silently  and  quietly  receding  before 
them  as  they  advance.  And  Liberian  Christians  are 
planning  and  acting  very  intelligently  for  their  advance- 
ment. 

Attorney-General  Erskine,  of  Liberia,  emigrated  from 
East  Tennessee  with  his  father  in  his  boyhood.  He  has 
been,  for  many  years,  one  of  the  most  able  and  influen- 
tial Presbyterian  missionaries  there.  If  our  ship,  the 
"  Golconda,"  has  made  a  successful  voyage,  she  has  just 
landed  at  Cape  Mount  a  hundred  and  forty-four  emi- 
grants, selected  by  him  in  his  native  region,  to  strength- 
en the  settlement  at  Cape  Mount,  so  as  make  it  a  better 
base  for  missionary  operations  among  the  Veys. 

The  Vey  people  are  intimately  connected  with  the 
Mandingoes,  the  great  trading-people  of  Western  Africa, 
who  read,  write,  and  keep  accounts  in  the  Arabic 
language,  and  whose  commercial  intercourse  extends 
to  the  comparatively  civilized  nations  of  Central  Africa, 


102  AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

where  the  Arabic  is  vernacular.  To  those  nations, 
European  missionary  societies  have  been  in  vain  seek- 
ing access  through  Egypt  and  Abessinia  for  half  a  cen- 
tury. Liberia  College  has  already  begun  to  distribute 
Arabic  books,  from  the  press  of  the  American  mission  at 
Beirut  in  Syria,  among  the  Mandingoes ;  and  that 
mission  has  furnished  books  for  further  distribution,  con- 
taining a  Circular  Letter  "from  the  learned  men  of 
Mount  Lebanon  to  the  learned  men  of  Moghreb,"  that 
is,  of  the  West,  inviting  correspondence,  and  offering  a 
supply  of  books  through  Liberia  College,  the  geogra- 
phical position  of  which,  and  its  objects,  are  described. 
As  things  move  slowly  in  Africa,  the  desired  result, 
though  confidently  expected,  must  be  distant.  But  the 
planting  of  those  hundred  and  forty-four  missionary 
colonists  at  Cape  Mount  is  exactly  the  right  thing, 
at  the  right  place,  to  hasten  it ;  and  it  is  only  one  of 
many  instances  showing  the  care  and  thought  of  Li- 
berian  Christians  for  their  brethren  still  in  the  darkness 
of  heathenism. 

Thus  the  early  missionary  plans  of  Hopkins  and 
Stiles,  of  Mills  and  Burgess,  and  Finley  and  Caldwell, 
and  of  Lot  Cary  and  his  society  at  Richmond,  are  more 
than  executed  already ;  and  of  their  ultimate  hope,  the 
Christian  civilization  of  Africa,  the  dawn  distinctly  ap- 
pears. 


ADDRESS 


RT.  REV.  THOMAS  M.  CLARK,  D.D. 


ADDRESS  OF  ET.  REV.  THOMAS  M.  CLARK,  D.D. 


BISHOP   OF   PliOTESTANT    EPISCOPAL   CHURCH,   RHODE   ISLAND. 


We  celebrate  the  present  anniversary  of  the  Ameri- 
can Colonization  Society  under  peculiar  and  interesting 
auspices.  Fifty  years  ago  a  few  far-sighted  Christian 
men,  actuated  by  a  pure  and  earnest  faith,  and  having 
in  view  simply  the  elevation  of  the  African  and  the  res- 
cue of  Africa  from  barbarism,  laid  the  foundation  of  an 
enterprise  which  has  ever  since  pursued  its  quiet  and 
unobtrusive  way,  gradually  gaining  favor  and  influence, 
and  commending  itself  more  and  more  to  the  favor  of  the 
judicious  and  the  good.  It  has  not  failed  to  encounter' 
some  opposition,  and  this  has  come  from  very  different 
quarters.  On  the  one  hand,  it  has  been  objected  that 
the  policy  of  the  Society  tended  to  rivet  the  chains 
of  African  slavery,  and,  on  the  other,  that  it  must  result 
in  disturbing  and  making  insecure  the  relations  of  the 
master  and  the  slave.  Both  of  these  objections  could 
hardly  be  valid  ;  and  now  that,  in  the  providence  of  God, 
the  institution  of  slavery  in  this  Republic  no  longer 
exists,  both  have  ceased  to  have  any  pertinence,  as  in- 
deed neither  ever  had  any  foundation. 


14 


106  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

The  cause  of  African  colonization  stands  before  the 
nation  to-day  in  a  new  and  most  important  aspect.  By 
a  process  which,  ten  years  ago,  no  one  dreamed  of  or 
thought  possible,  four  millions  of  slaves  have  been  sud- 
denl}^  emancipated.  The  freedom  of  the  African  has 
been  purchased  at  a  terrible  price ;  and  the  wrongs 
which  our  fathers  inllicted  upon  these  people  when  they 
tore  them  from  their  native  homes,  and  brought  them 
here  to  labor  and  die  on  a  foreign  shore,  we  have  been 
made  to  expiate  in  tears  and  blood.  Neither  has  this 
great  end  been  accomplished  without  the  endurance  of 
terrible  suffering  on  the  part  of  the  slaves  themselves. 
Thousands  upon  thousands  have  perished  by  the  high- 
way, of  cold  and  hunger ;  and,  in  this  bleak  January 
night,  tens  of  thousands  are  wanderers  without  a  roof 
to  shelter  them. 

What  is  to  be  done  for  this  great  multitude  of  human 
beings,  thus  suddenly  cast  upon  their  own  resources  ? 
How  are  the  new  relations  in  which  they  stand  to  socie- 
ty to  be  adjusted?  What  is  to  be  their  social  condition 
and  their  final  destiny  ?  These  are  questions  involving 
one  of  the  most  delicate,  difficult,  and  solemn  problems 
ever  presented  to  the  consideration  of  man.  They  de- 
mand the  broadest,  profoundest,  and  most  impartial 
judgment.  It  is  unfortunate  for  the  country,  and  un- 
propitious  to  the  liberated  slave,  that  they  have  become 
so  intimately  identified  with  political  controversy,  and, 
therefore,  so  much  in  danger  of  being  handled  mainly 
with  a  view  to  political  and  party  ends.     The  call  is  all 


ADDRESS    OF    BISHOP    CLARK.  107 

the  more  imperative  upon  those  who  really  have  at 
heart  the  welfare  of  the  African,  and  honestly  desire  his 
elevation,  to  rally  in  his  behalf,  and,  if  possible,  save  him 
from  being  crushed  between  the  Northern  and  the 
Southern  mill-stone. 

The  opinions  of  men  as  to  the  probable  future  of  the 
African  in  this  country  are  various  and  discordant.  The 
remark  most  common  upon  the  lips  of  those  whom  you 
meet  in  ordinary  intercourse  is,  that  the  race  will,  sooner 
or  later,  fade  away  and  become  extinct.  All  history,  we 
are  told,  shows  that  it  is  impossible  for  two  distinct  races 
to  dwell  together  on  terms  of  equality  in  the  same  land  ; 
and  the  inferior  must  yield  either  to  the  process  of  ab- 
sorption or  extermination. 

The  statistics  of  our  Northern  cities  are  cited  in  con- 
firmation of  this  theory.  When  the  census  of  1860  was 
taken  in  Philadelphia,  it  was  found  that,  during  a  period  of 
six  months,  there  were  among  this  people  only  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-eight  births  to  three  hundred  and  six 
deaths ;  the  deaths  being  more  than  double  the  births. 
In  Boston,  from  the  years  1855  to  1862,  there  were 
three  hundred  and  four  births  and  five  hundred  deaths. 
This  ratio,  of  course,  is  very  much  affected  by  the  laws 
of  climate.  The  North  is  not  the  natural  home  of  the 
African,  and  he  can  hardly  be  expected  to  thrive  there ; 
but  the  returns  from  the  whole  United  States  show  that 
while  the  rate  of  annual  deaths  among  the  whites  is  less 
than  two  and  throe-quarters  per  cent,  or  about  one  in 
every  thirty-seven  of  the  living,  among  the  colored,  it  is 


108  AMKKICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

about  three  and  a  half  per  cent,  or  one  in  every  twenty- 
eight. 

In  rejoinder  to  this  theory,  it  is  argued,  that  inasmuch 
as  labor  is  the  great  want  of  our  land,  and  there  are  de- 
partments of  work  which  this  race  can  supply  to  better 
advantage  than  any  other  people,  it  will  be  for  our  in- 
terest to  save  them  from  decay  and  extermination. 
Unlike  the  original  Indian,  they  are  a  laboring  people, 
and  they  will,  therefore,  always  continue  to  live  amongst 
us,  and  increase  and  multiply,  although  it  may  be  that 
their  social  position  in  many  respects  will  be,  as  it  has 
been,  inferior  and  subordinate. 

There  are  others  who  take  much  higher  ground  as  to 
the  future  of  the  Republic.  They  affirm  that  w^e  have 
only  to  give  him  all  his  political  rights,  and  place  him 
on  precisely  the  same  ground  of  political  equality  with 
other  American  citizens,  and  he  will  soon  become  com- 
petent to  use  those  rights  wisely  and  intelligently.  The 
social  bar  which  has  thus  far  impeded  his  elevation  will 
in  time  give  way  before  the  fact  that  he  is  endowed 
with  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  which  belong  to 
every  other  member  of  the  Republic,  and  all  distinc- 
tions of  caste  will  gradually  cease  to  exist. 

I  do  not  feel  qualified  to  cast  the  horoscope  of  the  Af- 
rican ;  neither  do  I  think  that  any  man  living,  with  the 
material  now  on  hand,  is  able  to  do  it.  The  argument 
upon  which  I  base  the  claims  of  this  Society  does  not 
require  that  we  should  penetrate  the  secrets  of  the  fu- 
ture.    That  the  great  body  of  this  people  are  needed 


ADDRESS  OF  BISHOP  CLARK.  109 

here,  and  that  at  present  no  other  class  is  competent  to 
take  their  place ;  that  they  are  capable  of  education, 
and  have  a  claim  upon  us  to  give  them  this  great  boon 
without  stint  or  measure  ;  that  they  possess  such  quali- 
ties as  may,  with  proper  training,  make  them  useful 
members  of  society  ;  that  every  protection  should  be 
thrown  around  them  which  the  most  impartial  law  can 
provide  ;  that  full  political  rights  should  be  conferred 
upon  them,  just  as  soon  and  just  as  far  as  they  become 
capable  of  exercising  those  rights  intelligently,  —  on 
these  points  I  do  not  think  there  is  room  for  debate. 

But,  supposing  all  this  to  be  done,  and  all  the  bene- 
fits to  accrue  which  might  reasonably  be  expected,  still 
in  this  land  the  African  will  always  be  an  exotic.  It  is 
not  the  region  for  which  the  Almighty  endowed  him. 
He  cannot  thrive  here  as  he  will  under  his  native  skies. 
He  will  have  difficulties  to  overcome  peculiar  to  his  race 
and  condition.  He  will  have  to  fight  against  obstructions 
which  are  not  shared  by  the  white  man.  No  legislation, 
no  change  or  improvement  in  public  sentiment,  can 
avert  this  result;  and  these  embarrassments  he  will  feel 
all  the  more  as  he  rises  in  rank  and  culture.  They  are 
experienced  at  the  North,  where  slavery  has  been  long 
abolished,  and  where  no  distinction  of  color  is  recoo-- 
nized  by  law,  just  as  keenly  and  painfully  as  ever  ;  and, 
therefore,  there  will  always  be  a  class  of  men  and  wo- 
men of  African  descent,  and  this  of  the  higher  order, 
who  will  desire  to  extricate  themselves  from  these  un- 
propitious  circumstances,  and  find  a  home  for  themselves 


110  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

and  for  their  children  in  that  land  where  their  race  are 
supreme,  independent  of  protection  or  patronage,  and 
where  they  may  become  the  architects  of  their  own 
destiny. 

I  have  the  same  respect  for  God's  image,  whether  it 
stands  before  me  blanched  or  bronzed.  It  is  the  manvihom 
I  regard  ;  and  intelligence  and  virtue  make  the  man,  not 
the  pigment  under  his  skin.  But,  if  African  blood  ran 
in  my  veins,  I  would  not  live  here,  to  be  kicked  about 
like  a  foot-ball  from  pillar  to  post,  while  politicians  play 
their  game ;  to  be  insulted  by  the  very  patronage  of 
those  who  assume  to  be  my  special  advocates ;  to  be 
made  a  public  spectacle  of  wonder  if  1  happened  to  ex- 
cel in  any  great  thing,  and  to  be  charged  with  natural 
and  invincible  infirmity  if  I  could  not  break  through 
the  iron  walls  which  encompass  me.  I  would  go  to  the 
land  of  my  fathers,  where  I  could  feel  that  ray  soul  is 
my  own ;  where  I  should  be  called  to  make  no  apology 
for  the  impertinence  of  having  been  born  ;  where  I 
could  rule,  instead  of  being  ruled  ;  where  the  highest 
posts  of  honor  and  influence  are  open  to  me  and  my 
children  ;  where  no  white  man  is  to  say  whether  I  shall 
vote  or  not ;  and,  if  none  would  help  me  to  go,  I  would 
live  on  a  crust  and  grind  my  bones  with  labor,  till  I  had 
earned  enough  to  carry  me  there.  And  yet  there  are 
those,  calling  themselves  the  exclusive  friends  of  the 
African,  who  are  exerting  all  their  efforts  to  hinder  him 
from  doing  this  very  thing.  Here  let  me  quote  the 
words  of  Edward  Everett:  "  Suppose  any  one  had  gone 


J 


ADDRESS   OF   BISHOP    CLARK.  HI 

among  that  little  company  of  persecuted  Christians  in 
England,  in  the  year  1608,  who  afterward  became  the 
Pilgrim  Church  at  Leyden  ;  or  suppose  any  one  had 
gone  in  1630  to  the  more  important  company  of  Gov. 
Winthrop,  the  great  founder  of  Massachusetts  ;  had  tried 
to  excite  their  feelings  against  the  projected  emigra- 
tion ;  had  told  them  that  England  belonged  to  them 
as  much  as  it  did  to  their  oppressors ;  had  led  them  to 
stand  upon  their  rights,  and,  if  necessary,  bleed  and 
die  for  them ;  had  depicted  the  hardships  and  sufferings 
of  the  passage  ;  had  painted  in  the  darkest  colors  the 
terrors  of  the  wilderness  into  which  they  were  about  to 
venture.  Would  that  have  been  true  friendship  ?  Would 
it  have  been  kindness?  Would  it  have  been  human- 
ity ?  Or  to  come  nearer  home  :  suppose,  at  the  pres- 
ent day,  one  should  go  into  Ireland,  or  France,  or  Swit- 
zerland, or  Germany,  or  Norway,  or  any  of  the  coun- 
tries from  which  hundreds  of  thousands  of  men,  in  a  de- 
pressed, destitute,  and  unhappy  condition,  are  emigratr 
ing  to  the  United  States  to  find  a  refuge,  a  home,  a 
social  position,  and  employment;  suppose  any  one 
should  go  to  them,  and  try  to  stimulate  a  morbid  pa- 
triotism, a  bitter  nationality,  telling  them  the  country 
where  they  were  born  belonged  as  much  to  them  as  to 
the  more  favored  classes ;  inducing  them  to  stay  where 
they  were  born ;  telling  them  that  it  was  doubtful  wheth- 
er they  would  get  employment  in  the  new  country  ; 
talking  of  the  expense,  the  diseases,  the  hardships  of 
the  poor  emigrants,  and  in  this  way  endeavor  to  deter 


112  AMERICi\JSr   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

them  from  this  great  adventure,  which  is  to  end  in  pro- 
curing a  home  and  a  position  in  the  world  and  an  edu- 
cation for  themselves  and  their  children.  Would  this  be 
friendship  ?  Would  this  be  kindness  ?  Would  this  be  hu- 
manity ?  But  these  are  the  appeals  which  are  made  to 
the  free  colored  population  of  this  country  ;  and  it  is 
by  appeals  like  this  that  the  Society  and  the  colony 
have  become,  as  I  am  sorry  to  believe  is  the  case,  highly 
unpopular  among  them." 

There  is  a  ground  upon  which  the  American  Coloni- 
zation Society  rests  its  claims  to  sympathy  and  support, 
that  is  lifted  above  the  level  of  all  the  discordant  views 
at  which  I  have  briefly  glanced,  and  which  seems  to  be 
impregnable.  One  of  the  great  continents  of  the  earth, 
up  to  the  present  time,  has  remained,  for  the  past,  unde- 
veloped. Until  very  recently,  its  vast  interior  was  known 
upon  the  map  only  as  a  blank,  and  was  supposed  to  be 
a  sterile,  uninhabited  desert.  The  explorations  of  trav- 
ellers have  just  revealed  to  us,  in  that  unknown  region, 
navigable  rivers,  a  prolific  soil,  and  a  swarming  popula- 
tion. The  multitudinous  tribes  of  Africa  are  not,  like 
the  inhabitants  of  the  East,  a  worn-out,  effete,  debili- 
tated people.  The  experiment  of  culture  has  not  been 
tested  with  them,  and  it  remains  to  be  seen  of  what  they 
are  capable. 

Is  Africa  never  to  be  redeemed  ?  Is  that  magnificent 
land  never  to  have  a  history  ?  Is  she  never  to  take 
rank  with  the  empires  and  peoples?  Is  the  darkness 
that  has  brooded  over  her  from  the  beginning,  never  to 


ADDRESS   OF   BISHOP   CLARK.  113 

be  lifted  ?  Are  lier  great  resources  never  to  be  devel- 
oped ?  Will  her  broad  rivers  never  be  traversed  by  the 
steamship,  and  her  fertile  plains  never  resound  to  the 
thunder  of  the  locomotive?  Is  she  never  to  have  a  lit- 
erature ?  Is  the  light  of  the  gospel  never  to  shine 
there  ?  God  made  that  continent,  and  he  did  not  make 
it  for  nought.  This  moral  wilderness  is  destined  here- 
after to  blossom  with  the  noblest  fruits  of  civilization 
and  the  sweetest  flowers  of  religion.  Splendid  cities 
will  rise  there,  her  dark  jungles  will  be  disinfected  by 
the  increase  of  pure  and  unde filed  religion,  and  Ethiopia 
stretch  out  her  hands,  not  in  deprecating  supplication 
before  the  spirit  of  infernal  wrath  and  evil,  but  in  grate- 
ful sontrs  and  thankso^i vino's  to  a  kind  and  merciful  God, 

But  now  the  practical  question  arises,  How  is  Africa 
to  be  redeemed  ?  It  is  very  evident  that,  left  to  herself, 
she  will  make  no  advance.  This  land  is  to-day  in  sub- 
stantially the  same  condition  that  it  has  occupied  for 
ages.  The  tendencies  are  all  stationary.  Even  the 
Dutch  who  settled  in  the  interior  of  Southern  Africa 
have  so  far  relapsed  into  barbarism,  that  they  are  hardly 
distinguishable  from  the  Hottentots  among  whom  they 
live.  Without  the  infusion  of  some  powerful  element, 
strong  enough  to  counteract  the  native  torpor  of  the 
land,  Africa  will  probably  be  the  same  a  thousand  years 
hence  that  she  is  to-day. 

How  is  this  controlling,  counteracting  element  to  be 
introduced  ?  Some  will  say,  by  opening  the  continent 
to  the  commerce  of  the  world.     But  there  is  an  impor- 

15 


114  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION    SOCIETY. 

tant  preliminary  work  to  be  done,  before  any  extensive 
trade  with  this  people  can  be  possible.  There  must  be 
exports,  in  order  that  there  may  be  imports ;  and,  when 
a  people  raise  only  what  is  necessary  for  their  own  sub- 
sistence, there  can  be  nothing  to  send  away.  Thus  far, 
traffic  with  this  portion  of  the  world  has  been  confined 
to  a  few  articles ;  and  it  is  a  melancholy  fact  that  the 
first  thing  which  ever  stimulated  the  African  to  any  sort 
of  enterprise  was,  the  discovery  that  he  could  find  a 
market  abroad  for  the  captives  whom  he  had  taken  in 
war.  The  trade  which  has  been  opened  with  this  peo- 
ple has  been  a  curse,  and  not  a  blessing.  Gunpowder 
and  rum  in  exchang-e  for  slaves  are  neither  a  means  of 
civilization  nor  of  grace. 

"  Throw  open  this  continent  to  the  influences  of  civil- 
ization by  conquest.  War  is  a  rough  and  frightful  pro- 
cess ;  but  it  has  been  one  of  the  great  civilizers  of  the 
world.  Send  fleets  and  armies,  and  break  the  spell  of 
death  by  the  thunder  of  artillery." 

No  foreign  army  will  ever  subjugate  this  land.  There 
is  an  invisible  cordon  of  defence  encircling  it,  against 
which  powder  and  steel  would  contend  in  vain.  The  pes- 
tilence that  walketh  in  darkness  is  stronger  than  any 
forces  that  can  be  gathered  at  noonday. 

May  we  not,  then,  rely  upon  the  labor  of  the  Chris- 
tian missionary,  armed  with  the  weapons  of  the  gospel 
of  peace,  to  subdue  and  regenerate  this  continent  by 
the  power  of  love,  and  so  bring  it  into  loving  sympathy 
with  the  civilized  world  ? 


ADDRESS   OF   BISHOP   CLARK.  115 

What  has  been  the  result  of  his  self-denying  labors 
in  that  benighted  land  ?  "  The  Roman  Catholic  mis- 
sionaries labored  in  Western  Africa  for  two  hundred 
and  fourteen  years ;  but  every  vestige  of  their  influence 
has  been  gone  for  many  generations.  The  Moravians, 
beginning  in  1736,  toiled  for  thirty -four  years,  making 
five  attempts,  at  a  cost  of  eleven  lives,  and  accomplished 
nothing.  An  English  attempt,  at  Bulama  Island,  in 
1792,  partly  missionary  in  its  character,  was  abandoned 
in  two  years  with  the  loss  of  a  hundred  lives.  A  mis- 
sion sent  to  the  Foulahs  from  England,  in  1705,  returned 
without  commencing  its  labors.  The  London,  Edinburgh, 
and  Glasgow  societies  commenced  their  stations  in  1797, 
which  were  extinct  in  three  years,  and  five  or  six  mis- 
sionaries dead.  Then  there  are  eighteen  Protestant 
missionary  attempts,  before  the  settlement  of  Liberia, 
all  of  which  failed."  There  is  now  an  Episcopal  mission 
imder  the  shadow  of  Liberia,  that  has  done  a  good 
work ;  but  it  has  been  at  a  woful  sacrifice  of  valuable 
lives. 

The  fact  seems  to  be  demonstrated,  that,  if  Africa  is 
ever  to  be  redeemed,  it  must  be  through  the  instrumen- 
tality of  the  African. 

The  problem  of  slavery  has  always  been  hard  to  solve. 
What  was  the  design  of  the  Almighty  in  permitting 
this  institution  to  exist  ?  It  certainly  was  not  to  bene- 
fit the  land  where  these  Africans  were  brought.  In  any 
respect  our  country  would  have  been  more  prosperous, 
more  peaceful,  and  more  united,  if  not  one  of  that  race 
had  ever  set  his  foot  upon  our  territory. 


116  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

But  if  Africa  is  to  be  lifted  out  of  barbarism  through 
the  agency  of  the  African,  and  if  he  could  not  be  reached 
by  the  hand  of  civilization  on  his  native  soil ;  if  there 
were  no  natural  tendencies  towards  a  higher  develop- 
ment in  the  race  itself,  and  if  they  were  inaccessible  to 
any  direct  influence  from  without ;  if  neither  commerce, 
or  conquests,  or  peaceful  instruction  could  be  brought 
to  bear  upon  them  at  home,  —  we  may  begin  to  see  why 
it  was  permitted  that  they  should  be  taken  from  their 
own  country,  and  placed  under  such  circumstances  as 
would  bring  them  in  contact  with  civilization  and  Chris- 
tianity, even  though  this  was  to  be  done  in  a  way  which 
shocks  our  sense  of  justice,  and  was  far  from  favorable 
to  their  own  highest  culture. 

The  only  conceivable  process  by  which  the  great  con- 
tinent of  Africa  can  ever  be  civilized  and  Christianized 
is,  through  the  system  of  colonization,  and  transplant- 
ing to  her  shores  all  the  institutions  of  civilization  and 
Christianity,  under  the  auspices  and  supreme  control, 
not  of  the  white  man,  but  of  the  children  of  the  soil. 
Every  well-conducted  and  prospei'ous  colony  will  gradu- 
ally become  a  power,  before  which  the  ancient  struc- 
tures of  idolatry  and  superstition  and  barbarism  must 
sooner  or  later  fall.  The  material  for  this  work  has 
been  provided  in  a  rough  and  strange  manner,  which  is, 
however,  not  without  striking  precedents  in  history. 
It  was  a  nation  of  liberated  slaves  that  colonized  and 
possessed  the  "  promised  land." 

The  opponents  of  colonization  have  sometimes  asked. 


ADDRESS    OF   BISHOP   CLARK.  117 

with  a  sneer,  if  we  consider  the  plantation  negro  a  com- 
petent and  fit  representative  of  American  culture,  quali- 
fied to  act  as  a  Christian  missionary,  and  to  introduce 
the  arts  of  civilization,  science,  education,  commerce, 
manufactures,  and  ac>:riculture  into  Africa.  If  it  had  been 
the  policy  of  this  Society  to  send  out  cargo  after  cargo  of 
the  lowest  and  most  degraded  class  of  Africans  to  be  found 
in  the  land,  there  might  be  some  good  foundation  for 
this  contemptuous  question ;  but  it  has  not  been  so. 
Not  a  few  who  have  emigrated  to  Liberia  have  been 
men  of  more  than  ordinary  culture ;  and  the  great  body 
of  colonists  have  been  sufficiently  well  trained  in  me- 
chanical and  agricultural  pursuits  to  qualify  them  for 
the  position  of  useful  and  productive  members  of 
society.  It  is  not  the  lowest  order  who  are  likely  to 
seek  a  refuge  in  Liberia.  They  have  the  same  local  at- 
tachments which  the  domestic  animal  has  for  its  home. 
They  love  the  quiet  nooks  and  the  warm  shelter  and  the 
abundant  food  which  they  find  there.  They  do  not  care 
to  tempt  the  perils  of  an  ocean  voyage,  and  to  encount- 
er the  hardships  of  a  new  settlement.  They  do  not  care 
for  Africa  because  it  was  the  home  of  their  ancestors. 
They  do  not  care  for  Africa  because  they  may  assert 
their  manhood  there,  and  lay  the  foundation  of  great 
things  for  themselves  and  their  children.  They  are  trou- 
bled with  no  such  lofty  sentiments  as  these ;  and  there- 
fore they  would  rather  grind  cane  in  Louisiana,  and 
gather  cotton  in  Carolina,  than  become  the  founders  of 
a  great  nation  on  the  other  side  of  the  sea. 


118  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

But,  after  all,  the  great  question  to  be  considered  on 
such  an  occasion  as  the  present  is  this :  What  have 
been  the  actual  results  of  African  colonization?  Has 
Liberia,  upon  the  whole,  proved  to  be  a  success,  or  failure  ? 
Forty-six  years  ago,  the  first  band  of  emigrants  landed 
and  established  themselves  on  Cape  Mesurado.  Nine- 
teen and  a  half  years  ago,  Liberia  ceased  to  be  a  colony, 
and  became  an  independent  republic.  Have  the  la- 
bors, and  the  sacrifices,  and  the  means  which  have  been 
expended  upon  this  enterprise,  resulted  favorably  or 
not? 

The  work  of  colonizing  one  region  of  the  earth  from 
another  and  a  distant  quarter  has  always  been  slow 
and  difficult,  and  liable  to  peculiar  and  serious  embar- 
rassments. 

Seventeen  years  after  the  first  colony  was  planted  at 
Jamestown,  Va.,  it  appears  that  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  pounds  sterling  had  been  expended ; 
more  than  nine  thousand  persons  had  been  sent  from 
Europe  to  people  it ;  and  yet  the  population  was  reduced 
to  eighteen  hundred.  Seventy-eight  years  after  the 
settlement  of  Connecticut,  the  population  amounted  to 
only  seventeen  thousand.  The  Maine  colony,  after  the 
lapse  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  years,  numbered  ten 
thousand.  Of  the  original  members  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Bay  Company,  quite  a  large  number  soon  returned 
to  England,  wearied  and  discouraged. 

The  Republic  of  Liberia  numbers  to-day  among  its 
civilized    inhabitants    about    thirty  thousand    persons, 


ADDRESS   OF   BISHOP   CLARK.  119 

about  fifteen  thousand  of  which  are  American  Liberians ; 
that  is,  those  who  have  emigrated  from  the  United 
States  with  their  descendants.  More  than  three  hun- 
dred thousand  aborigines  reside  within  the  territory  of 
Liberia,  and  are  brought  more  or  less  directly  under  the 
influence  and  control  of  her  civilized  institutions.  There 
are  nearly  fifty  churches  in  the  Republic,  representing 
five  different  denominations,  with  their  Sunday  schools 
and  Bible  classes,  and  contributing  something  every 
week  for  missionary  purposes.  The  exports  last  year 
amounted  to  about  three  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

The  undeveloped  capacities  for  trade,  no  one  can 
estimate.  With  a  most  prolific  soil,  and  a  climate  capable 
of  producing  almost  every  variety  of  tropical  fruit,  the 
resources  of  the  land  are  beyond  computation,  A  sea,- 
coast  line  six  hundred  miles  in  length,  and  an  interior 
stretching  indefinitely  into  the  heart  of  the  country, 
offer  the  most  splendid  facilities  for  foreign  commerce. 

For  a  thousand  miles  along  the  coast,  and  two  hundred 
miles  inland,  the  influence  of  the  government  has  been 
brought  to  bear  upon  domestic  slavery  among  the  na- 
tives, and  upon  the  extirpation  of  the  slave-trade,  until 
both  have  ceased  to  exist. 

A  well-ordered  and  well-governed  community  has 
been  established  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  with  its  courts 
of  justice  intelligently  presided  over ;  with  its  legisla- 
tive assemblies  wisely  constructed  and  equitably  con- 
ducted ;  with  its  schools  and  college  furnishing  a  sound 
and  thorough  education,  and  with  its  Christian  churches 


120  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION  SOCIETY. 

teaching  the  people  the  practical  duties  which  pertain 
to  the  present  life,  and  also  revealing  to  them  the  way 
of  salvation  through  Jesus  Christ. 

Has  the  work  of  African  colonization  proved  to  be  a 
failure  ?  Are  these  results  nothing  ?  All  may  not  have 
been  accomplished  that  was  anticipated  by  some  of  the 
more  sanguine  friends  of  the  enterprise.  The  Society 
has  been  called  to  contend  with  difficulties  which  could 
not  have  been  foreseen  in  the  beginning ;  it  has  encoun- 
tered opposition  in  quarters  where  it  least  expected ; 
vigorous  efforts  have  been  made  to  prejudice  the  colored 
people  against  us ;  but  still  there  stands  the  Republic  of 
Liberia  to-day,  free,  independent,  and  prosperous.  All 
nations  recognize  and  salute  her  flag.  She  needs  no  gov- 
ernmental protection  from  any  other  land.  All  that  she 
asks  of  us  is  this,  —  send  us  people,  industrious,  moral, 
intelligent.  If  they  have  not  the  means  themselves,  aid 
them  to  establish  themselves  on  these  shores.  We  will 
give  them  land,  if  for  a  few  months  you  will  only  assist 
them  in  their  preparation  to  become  self'supporting 
citizens.  And  this  is  the  simple  work  which  the  Ameri- 
can Colonization  Society  proposes  to  do. 

A  strange  thing  occurred  in  the  history  of  the  world 
on  the  last  twenty -sixth  of  July.  It  was  the  nine- 
teenth anniversary  of  the  independence  of  Liberia ;  and 
on  the  heights  of  Lebanon  in  Syria,  at  the  house  of  the 
United-States  consul,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Blyden,  Fulton  Pro- 
fessor in  Liberia  College,  was  requested  to  deliver  an 
address  appropriate   to  the  day.     I  do  not  think  that  I 


i 


ADDRESS    OF   BISHOP    CLARK.  121 

can  do  better  than  to  give  yon  a  few  words  taken  from 
his  speech  :  "  Most  wonderful,"  he  says,  ''  have  been  the 
changes,  which,  within  a  few  years,  the  moral  and  re- 
ligious aspects  of  that  jDortion  of  Africa  have  undergone. 
Where,  a  few  years  ago,  stood  virgin  forests  or  impene- 
trable jungles,  we  now  behold  churches  erected  to  the 
living  God ;  we  hear  the  sound  of  the  church-going  bell, 
and  regular  Sabbath  ministrations  are  enjoyed.  If  you 
could  see  Liberia  as  she  now  is,  with  her  six  hundred 
miles  of  coast  snatched  from  the  abominations  of  the 
slave-trade,  her  thriving  towns  and  villages,  her  spacious 
streets  and  fine  houses,  her  happy  homes  with  their 
varied  delights,  her  churches  with  their  Sabbath  schools 
and  their  solemn  and  delightful  services ;  could  you 
contemplate  all  the  diversified  means  of  improvement 
and  enjoyment,  and  indications  on  every  hand  of  ease 
and  happiness,  and  plodding  industry  of  her  population, 
without  those  feverish  and  distracting  pursuits  and 
rivalries  which  make  large  cities  so  unpleasant ;  could 
you  behold  these  things,  and  contrast  the  state  of  things 
now  with  what  it  was  forty  years  ago,  when  the  eightyr 
eight  negro  pilgrims  first  landed  on  these  shores,  where 
the  primeval  forests  stood  around  them  with  their  aw- 
ful,  unbroken  solitudes;  could  you  listen,  as  they  listened, 
to  the  rush  of  the  wind  through  those  forests,  to  the 
roar  of  wild  beasts,  and  the  savage  music  of  treacherous 
foes  all  around  them ;  were  you,  I  say,  in  a  position  to 
make  this  contrast,  you  would  exclaim,  '  What  hath 
God    wrought ! '       You    would    acknowledge    that    the 

16 


122  AMEKICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

spirit  of  Christianity  and  civilization  has  moved  upon 
the  face  of  these  turbid  waters,  and  that  beauty  and 
order  have  emerged  out  of  materials  rude  and  unprom- 
ising ;  you  would  recognize  on  that  coast  a  germ  of 
moral  renovation,  which  shall  at  length  burst  into 
glorious  efflorescence  all  over  the  land :  the  wilderness 
and  the  desert  shall  bloom  and  blossom  as  the  rose." 

What  is  to  be  the  history  of  African  Colonization 
during  the  next  fifty  years  ?  No  one  believes  it  possi- 
ble that  this  new  nationality  is  destined  to  die  out ;  that 
this  people  are  doomed  to  show  that  they  are  incapable 
of  self-government,  and  incompetent  to  hold  a  place 
among  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth.  So  far  from  this,  I 
believe  that  they  are  destined  to  draw  around  them  a 
class  of  colored  men,  endowed  with  a  constantly-increas- 
ing intelligence,  and  a  more  and  more  advanced  manli- 
ness. With  the  broader  and  higher  education  which 
this  class  are  now  receiving  amongst  us,  it  may  be  an- 
ticipated that,  from  time  to  time,  large  numbers  will  say, 
"  Let  us  go  back  to  our  own  land,  and  show  the  world 
what  Africans  can  do  in  Africa ;  let  us  do  for  that  con- 
tinent what  the  Anglo-Saxon  has  done  for  America ;  let 
us  plant  the  same  institutions  there  which  have  made 
these  United  States  such  a  power  in  the  earth  —  only, 
instead  of  exterminating  the  aboriginal  inhabitants,  as 
has  been  done  here,  let  us  try  to  civilize  and  Christian- 
ize the  millions  that  now  grovel  in  barbarism  there." 

I  was  very  much  impressed  with  a  thought  that  was 
suggested  in   an  address  on  the  future  of  the   African 


ADDRESS   OF   BISHOP   CLARK.  123 

race,  which  I  heard  some  years  since  from  the  lips  of 
the  Rev.  Professor  Crummell,  of  Liberia.  It  was  sub- 
stantially as  follows :  If  the  Hindoos  or  the  Cliinamen, 
or  the  common  order  of  people  in  any  of  the  European 
States,  were  to  undertake  the  experiment  of  self-gov- 
ernment, they  would  labor  under  a  great  disadvantage, 
from  the  fact  that  they  are  familiar  with  no  form  of  free 
institutions  which  would  serve  as  a  model  and  guide  in 
framing  and  regulating  a  representative  government ; 
whereas  the  settlers  of  Liberia,  although  many  of  them 
were  born  and  trained  in  slavery,  could  not  help  becom- 
ing, in  a  degree,  familiar  with  our  religious  and  political 
habits  and  principles.  They  are,  therefore,  better  quali- 
fied to  establish  and  conduct  a  republic  of  their  own, 
than  any  other  people  in  a  corresponding  position. 

There  is  at  this  moment  among  the  colored  popula- 
tion of  the  United  States,  such  a  spontaneous  tendency 
towards  emigration  as  has  never  been  known  before ; 
and,  when  they  find  that  they  are  no  longer  an  impor- 
tant faction  in  the  political  struggles  of  the  country, 
they  will  see  still  more  clearly  than  they  now  do,  that  it 
is  for  their  own  comfort  and  interest,  as  well  as  for  the 
good  of  Africa,  to  make  that  land  their  permanent 
abode.  They  have,  indeed,  the  same  right  to  dwell  here 
that  any  of  us  have ;  they  have  a  claim  to  the  same 
just  and  equitable  treatment ;  and  we  are  bound  to  see 
that  the  freedom  which  has  been  suddenly  given  them 
shall  prove  to  be  a  blessing,  and  not  a  curse.  But  cer- 
tain races  seem  to  have   been  intended  for  certain  re- 


124  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

gions ;  and  as  the  palm-tree  could  never  flourish  in  our 
cold  valleys,  so  the  African  can  never  develop  his  best 
energies,  and  find  his  highest  level,  in  any  foreign  land. 
And  this  will  always  be  to  him,  in  some  respects,  an  alien 
country.  He  can  never  forget  the  wrongs  that  have  been 
done  to  him  and  his  ancestors  here ;  and  there  is  noth- 
ing in  his  reminiscences  of  the  past  to  make  him  proud 
of  his  American  citizenship.  We  may  want  to  keep  him 
here  to  do  the  drudgery  that  we  shrink  from  ourselves ; 
we  may  be  willing  to  give  him  the  right  of  suffrage, 
that  we  may  use  it  for  our  own  political  advantage  ;  but 
he  must  either  sink  his  own  individuality,  or  retain  it  at 
a  cost,  which,  in  the  end,  will  make  him  suffer. 

Why,  then,  not  go  to  a  republic  that  he  can  call  his 
own  ?  There  are  great  fortunes  to  be  made  in  that  land, 
whenever  the  same  industry  and  skill  shall  be  brought 
into  action  there  which  have  made  men  rich  here.  There 
are  posts  of  honor  and  influence  open  to  him  in  that 
land,  lofty  enough  to  satisfy  one's  proudest  ambition. 
There  is  a  magnificent  work  to  be  done  for  a  magnifi- 
cent continent,  which  he  alone  is  competent  to  do.  A 
greater  field  for  enterprise,  a  greater  field  for  the  spread 
of  the  gospel  of  Christ  and  the  establishment  of  a  no- 
ble civilization,  was  never  opened  to  man. 

It  may  demand  some  sacrifice  at  first ;  there  may  be 
ties  which  it  is  hard  to  sunder,  trials  to  be  endured  which 
it  will  demand  a  vigorous  Avill  to  face ;  but  no  great 
work  is  accomplished  without  suffering.  White  men, 
bred    in    luxury    and    affluence,   accomplished   women, 


ADDRESS  OF  BISHOP  CLARK.  125 

moved  by  the  love  of  Christ,  have  gone  to  that  distant 
land  to  carry  the  unsearchable  treasures  of  a  pure  and 
holy  faith  to  a  people  perishing  in  darkness  ;  and  they 
went  forth  to  encounter  perils  which  the  black  man  has 
comparatively  little  cause  to  fear. 

It  is  not  impossible  that,  in  process  of  time,  the  work 
of  the  Colonization  Society  may  cease  any  longer  to  be 
needed.  The  citizens  of  Liberia,  in  their  prosperity, 
may  themselves  provide  the  means  for  the  removal  to 
that  land  of  all  who  wish  to  go  there,  and  are  unable  to 
pay  the  cost,  as  thousands  from  Great  Britain  and  Eu- 
rope are  brought  to  our  country  every  year  by  the  vol- 
untary offerings  of  those  who  have  preceded  them. 

Bat,  meanwhile,  there  is  likely  to  be  a  great  demand 
upon  the  resources  of  this  Society.  If  the  multitudes 
of  that  unhappy  and  ill-treated  people,  who  are,  at  this 
moment,  floating  about,  dependent  upon  public  charity 
for  their  support,  and  over  whose  future  such  an  imper- 
vious and  gloomy  cloud  is  suspended,  could  all  be  gath- 
ered up,  and  removed  to  a  pleasant  home,  a  section  of 
land  be  there  secured  to  them,  and  the  implements  placed 
in  their  hands,  with  which,  by  ordinary  labor,  they  would 
be  able  to  earn  for  themselves  a  comfortable  livelihood, 
would  not  this  be  an  act  of  real  Christian  charity  ? 

We  owe  an  enormous  debt  to  the  African :  how  can 
we  best  discharge  that  debt  ?  Our  brothers'  blood  cries 
to  us  from  the  ground.  God  hears  that  cry,  and  holds 
us  accountable.  As  we  would  avert  further  calamitj^ 
from  our  own  land,  as  we  would  protect  ourselves  from 


126  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION  SOCIETY. 

the  slow  but  certain  dispensations  of  justice,  let  us,  as 
far  as  we  can,  redeem  and  expiate  the  wrong  we  have 
done  the  African.  We  have  all  eaten  the  fruit  of  his 
unrecorapensed  labor.  Let  us  now  give  him  back  some 
portion  of  that  which  we  have  taken  from  him.  Let 
your  wealth  flow  by  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands 
into  the  treasury  of  this  National  Society.  It  will  be 
well  used,  and  bring  forth  abundant  fruit. 


APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX. 


DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE. 

We,  the  representatives  of  the  people  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
Liberia,  in  Convention  assembled,  invested  with  authority  for 
forming  a  new  government,  relying  upon  the  aid  and  protection 
of  the  Great  Arbiter  of  human  events,  do  hereby,  in  the  name  and 
on  behalf  of  the  people  of  this  Commonwealth,  publish  and  de- 
clare the  said  Commonwealth  a  free,  sovereign,  and  independ- 
ent State,  by  the  name  and  title  of  the  Republic  of  Liberia. 

While  announcing  to  the  nations  of  the  world  the  new  position 
which  the  people  of  this  Republic  have  felt  themselves  called  upon 
to  assume,  courtesy  to  their  opinion  seems  to  demand  a  brief  ac- 
companying statement  of  the  causes  which  induced  them,  first  to 
expatriate  themselves  from  the  land  of  their  nativity  and  to  form 
settlements  on  this  barbarous  coast,  and  now  to  organize  their 
government  by  the  assumption  of  a  sovereign  and  independent 
character.  Thei-efore  we  respectfully  ask  their  attention  to  the 
following  facts :  — 

We  recognize  in  all  men  certain  natural  and  inalienable  rights ; 
among  these  are  life,  liberty,  and  the  right  to  acquire,  possess, 
enjoy,  and  defend  property.  By  the  practice  and  consent  of  men 
in  all  ages,  some  system  or  form  of  government  is  proven  to  be 
necessary  to  exercise,  enjoy,  and  secure  these  rights;  and  every 
people  has  a  right  to  institute  a  government,  and  to  choose  and 
adopt  that  system  or  form  of  it,  which,  in  their  opinion,  will  most 
effectually  accomplish  these  objects,  and  secure  their  happiness, 
which  does  not  interfere  with  the  just  rights  of  others.  The 
17 


130  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

right,  therefore,  to  institute  government,  and  to  all  the  powers 
necessary  to  conduct  it,  is  an  inalienable  right,  and  cannot  be 
resisted  without  the  grossest  injustice. 

We,  the  people  of  the  Republic  of  Liberia,  were  originally  the 
inhabitants  of  the  United  States  of  North  America. 

In  some  parts  of  that  country,  we  were  debarred  by  law,  from 
all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  men ;  in  other  parts,  public  senti- 
ment, more  powerful  than  law,  frowned  us  down. 

We  were  everywhere  shut  out  from  all  civil  office. 

We  were  excluded  fi'om  all  participation  in  the  government. 

We  were  taxed  without  our  consent. 

We  were  compelled  to  contribute  to  the  resources  of  a  country 
which  gave  us  no  protection. 

We  were  made  a  separate  and  distinct  class,  and  against  vis  ev- 
ery avenue  to  improvement  was  eifectually  closed.  Strangers  from 
all  lands,  of  a  color  different  fi'om  ours,  were  preferred  before  us. 

We  uttered  our  complaints ;  but  they  were  unattended  to,  or 
only  met  by  alleging  the  peculiar  institutions  of  the  country. 

All  hope  of  a  favorable  change  in  our  counti'y  was  thus  wholly 
extinguished  in  our  bosoms,  and  we  looked  with  anxiety  abroad 
for  some  asylum  from  the  deep  degradation. 

The  westeni  coast  of  Africa  Avas  the  place  selected  by  Ameri- 
can benevolence  and  philanthropy  for  our  future  home.  Removed 
beyond  those  influences  which  depressed  us  in  our  native  land,  it 
was  hoped  we  would  be  enabled  to  enjoy  those  rights  and  privi- 
leges, and  exercise  and  improve  those  faculties,  which  the  God  of 
nature  has  given  us  in  common  with  the  rest  of  mankind. 

Under  the  auspices  of  the  American  Colonization  Society,  we 
established  ourselves  here,  on  land  acquired  by  purchase  from  the 
lords  of  the  soil. 

In  an  original  compact  with  this  Society,  we,  for  important  rea- 
sons, delegated  to  it  certain  political  powers  ;  while  this  institution 
stipulated,  that  whenever  the  people  should  become  capable  of  con- 
ducting the  government,  or  whenever  the  people  should  desire  it, 


DECLARATION   OF  INDEPENDENCE.  131 

this  institution  would  resign  the  delegated  power,  peaceably  with- 
draw its  supervision,  and  leave  the  people  to  the  government  of 
themselves. 

Under  the  auspices  and  guidance  of  this  institution,  which  has 
nobly  and  in  perfect  faith  redeemed  its  pledges  to  the  people,  we 
have  grown  and  prospered. 

From  time  to  time,  our  number  has  been  increased  by  emigra- 
tion from  America,  and  by  accession  from  native  tribes  ;  and  from 
time  to  time,  as  circumstances  required  it,  we  have  extended  our 
borders  by  acquisition  of  land  by  honorable  purchase  from  the 
natives  of  the  country. 

As  our  territory  has  extended,  and  our  population  increased,  our 
commerce  has  also  increased.  The  flags  of  most  of  the  civilized 
nations  of  the  eartli  float  in  our  harbors,  and  their  merchants  are 
opening  an  honorable  and  profitable  trade.  Until  recently,  these 
visits  have  been  of  a  uniformly  harmonious  character;  but  as  they 
have  become  more  frequent,  and  to  more  numerous  points  of  our 
extending  coast,  questions  have  arisen,  which,  it  is  supposed,  can  be 
adjusted  only  by  agreement  between  sovereign  powers. 

For  years  past,  the  American  Colonization  Society  has  virtu- 
ally withdrawn  from  all  direct  and  active  part  in  the  administra- 
tion of  the  government,  except  in  the  appointment  of  the  govern- 
or, who  is  also  a  colonist,  for  the  apparent  purpose  of  testing  the 
ability  of  the  people  to  conduct  the  affairs  of  government;  and 
no  complaint  of  crude  legislation,  nor  of  mismanagement,  nor  of 
mal-administration,  has  yet  been  heard. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  this  institution,  the  American  Coloniza- 
tion Society,  with  that  good  faith  which  has  uniformly  marked  all 
its  dealings  with  us,  did,  by  a  set  of  resolutions  in  January,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-six,  dis- 
solve all  political  connection  with  the  people  of  this  Republic, 
return  the  power  with  which  it  was  delegated,  and  left  the  people 
to  the  government  of  themselves. 

The  people  of  the  Republic  of  Liberia,  then,  are  of  right,  and  in 


132  AMERICAN    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY. 

fact,  a  free,  sovereign,  and  independent  State,  possessed  of  all  the 
rights,  powers,  and  functions  of  government. 

In  assuming  the  momentous  responsibilities  of  the  position  they 
liave  taken,  the  people  of  this  Republic  feel  justified  by  the  neces- 
sities of  the  case ;  and,  with  this  conviction,  they  throw  themselves 
with  confidence  upon  the  candid  consideration  of  the  civilized 
world. 

Liberia  is  not  the  offspring  of  grasping  ambition,  nor  the  tool  of 
avaricious  speculation. 

No  desire  for  territorial  aggrandizement  brought  us  to  these 
shores;  nor  do  we  believe  so  sordid  a  motive  entered  into  the  high 
considerations  of  those  who  aided  us  in  providing  this  asylum. 

Liberia  is  an  asylum  from  tlie  most  grinding  oppression. 

In  coming  to  the  shores  of  Africa,  we  indulged  the  pleasing  hope 
that  we  would  be  permitted  to  exercise  and  improve  those  facul- 
ties which  impart  to  man  his  dignity,  to  nourish  in  our  hearts 
the  flame  of  honorable  ambition,  to  cherish  and  indulge  those  aspi- 
rations which  a  beneficent  Creator  had  implanted  in  every  human 
heart,  and  to  evince  to  all  who  despise,  ridicule,  and  oppress  our 
race,  that  we  possess  with  them  a  common  nature,  are  with  them 
susceptible  of  equal  refinement,  and  capable  of  equal  advance- 
ment in  all  that  adorns  and  dignifies  man. 

We  were  animated  with  the  hope  that  here  we  should  be  at  lib- 
erty to  train  up  our  children  in  the  way  they  should  go,  to  in- 
spire them  with  the  love  of  an  honorable  fame,  to  kindle  within 
them  the  flame  of  a  lofty  philanthropy,  and  to  form  strong  within 
them  the  principles  of  humanity,  virtue,  and  religion. 

Among  the  strongest  motives  to  leave  our  native  land,  to 
abandon  forever  the  scenes  of  our  childhood,  and  to  sever  the 
most  endeared  connections,  was  the  desire  for  a  retreat,  where,  free 
from  the  agitations  of  fear  and  molestation,  we  could,  in  composure 
and  security,  approach  in  worship  the  God  of  our  fathers. 

Thus  far  our  highest  hopes  have  been  realized. 

Libeiia  is  already  the  happy  home  of  thousands  who  wore  once 


CONSTITUTION   OF   LIBERIA.  133 

the  (loomed  victims  of  oppression  ;  and  if  left  unmolested  to  go  on 
witli  her  natural  and  spontaneous  growth,  if  her  movements  be 
left  free  from  the  paralyzing  intrigues  of  jealous  ambition  and  un- 
scrupulous avarice,  she  will  throw  open  a  wider  and  yet  a  wider 
door  for  thousands  who  are  now  looking  with  an  anxious  eye  for 
some  land  of  rest. 

Our  courts  of  justice  are  open  equally  to  the  stranger  and  the 
citizen  for  the  redress  of  grievances,  for  the  remedy  of  injuries, 
and  for  the  punishment  of  crime. 

Our  numerous  and  well-attended  schools  attest  our  efforts  and  our 
desire  for  the  improvement  of  our  children. 

Our  churches  for  the  worship  of  our  Creator,  everywhere  to  be 
seen,  bear  testimony  to  our  piety  and  to  our  acknowledgment  of 
his  providence. 

The  native  African,  bowing  down  with  us  before  the  altar  of 
the  living  God,  declare  that  from  us,  feeble  as  we  are,  the  light 
of  Christianity  has  gone  forth ;  while  upon  that  curse  of  curses, 
the  slave-trade,  a  deadly  blight  has  fallen  as  far  as  our  influence 
extends. 

Therefore,  in  the  name  of  humanity  and  virtue  and  religion, 
in  the  name  of  the  Great  God,  our  common  Creator  and  our  com^ 
mon  Judge,  we  appeal  to  the  nations  of  Christendom,  and  earnest- 
ly and  respectfully  ask  of  them  that  they  will  regard  us  with  the 
sympathy  and  friendly  considerations  to  which  the  peculiarities  of 
our  condition  entitle  us,  and  to  extend  to  us  that  comity  which 
marks  the  friendly  intercourse  of  civilized  and  independent  com- 
munities. 

CONSTITUTION. 

ARTICLE    I. 

Declaration  of  Rights. 
The  end  of  the  institution,  maintenance,  and  administration  of 
government,  is  to  secure  the  existence  of  the  body  politic,  to  pro- 
tect it,  and   to  furnish  the  individuals  who  compose  it   with  the 


134  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

power  of  enjoying  in  safety  and  tranquillity  their  natural  rights, 
and  the  blessings  of  life  ;  and,  whenever  these  great  objects  are  not 
obtained,  the  people  have  a  right  to  alter  the  government,  and  to 
take  measures  necessary  for  their  safety,  prosperity,  and  happiness. 

Therefore  we,  the  people  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Liberia,  in 
Africa,  acknowledging  with  devout  gratitude  the  goodness  of  God 
in  granting  to  us  the  blessings  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  polit- 
ical, religious,  and  civil  liberty,  do,  in  order  to  secure  these  bless- 
ings for  ourselves  and  our  posterity,  and  to  establish  justice,  insure 
domestic  peace,  and  promote  the  general  welfare,  hereby  solemnly 
associate  and  constitute  ourselves  a  free,  sovereign,  and  independ- 
ent State,  by  the  name  of  the  RepubUc  of  Liberia ;  and  do  ordain 
and  establish  this  constitution  for  the  government  of  the  same. 

Sectiozs^  1.  All  men  are  born  equally  free  and  independent, 
and  have  certain  natural  inherent  and  inalienable  rights,  —  among 
which  are  the  rights  of  enjoying  and  defending  life  and  liberty,  of 
acquiring,  possessing,  and  protecting  property,  and  of  pursuing  and 
obtaining  safety  and  happiness. 

Sect.  2.  All  power  is  inherent  in  the  people  :  all  free  govern- 
ments are  instituted  by  their  authority  and  for  their  benefit,  and 
they  have  a  right  to  alter  and  reform  the  same  when  their  safety 
and  happiness  require  it. 

Sect.  3.  All  men  have  a  natural  and  inalienable  right  to  worship 
God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own  consciences,  without 
obstruction  or  molestation  from  others.  All  persons  demeaning 
themselves  peaceably,  and  not  obstructing  others  in  their  religious 
worship,  are  entitled  to  the  protection  of  law  in  the  free  exercise 
of  their  own  religion;  and  no  sect  of  Christians  shall  have  exclu- 
sive privileges  or  preference  over  any  other  sect,  but  all  shall  be 
alike  tolerated  ;  and  no  religious  test  whatever  shall  be  required  as  a 
qualification  for  civil  office,  or  the  exercise  of  any  civil  right. 

Sect.  4.  There  shall  be  no  slavery  within  this  Republic ;  nor 
shall  any  citizen  of  this  Republic,  or  any  person  resident  therein, 
deal  in  slaves,  either  within  or  without  this  Republic,  directly  or 
indirectly. 


CONSTITUTION   OF   LIBERIA.  135 

Sect.  5.  The  people  have  a  right  at  all  times,  in  an  orderly  and 
peaceable  manner,  to  assemble  and  consult  upon  the  common  good, 
to  instruct  their  representatives,  and  to  petition  the  government  or 
any  i:)ublic  functionaries  for  the  redress  of  grievances. 

Sect.  6.  Every  person  injured  shall  have  remedy  therefor  by 
due  course  of  law.  Justice  shall  be  done  without  denial  or  delay  ; 
and  in  all  cases  not  arising  under  martial  law  or  upon  impeachment, 
the  parties  shall  have  a  right  to  a  trial  by  jury,  and  to  be  heard  in 
person  or  by  counsel,  or  both. 

Sect.  7.  No  person  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  a  capital  or  infa- 
mous crime,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment,  cases  arising  in  the 
army  and  navy,  and  petty  offences,  unless  upon  presentment  by  a 
grand  jury ;  and  every  person  criminally  charged  shall  have  a  right 
to  be  seasonably  furnished  with  a  copy  of  the  charge,  to  be  con- 
fronted with  the  witnesses  against  him,  to  have  compulsory  process 
for  obtaining  witnesses  in  his  favor,  and  to  have  a  speedy,  public, 
and  impartial  trial  by  a  jury  of  the  vicinity.  He  shall  not  be  com- 
pelled to  furnish  or  give  evidence  against  himself;  and  no  person 
shall,  for  the  same  offence,  be  twice  put  in  jeopardy  of  life  or  limb. 

Sect.  8.  No  person  shall  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty,  property,  or 
privilege,  but  by  the  judgment  of  his  peers,  or  the  law  of  the 
land. 

Sect.  9.  No  place  shall  be  searched  nor  person  seized  on  a 
criminal  charge  or  suspicion,  unless  upon  waiTant  lawfully  issued, 
upon  probable  cause  supported  by  oath  or  solemn  affirmation,  spe- 
cially designating  the  place  or  person,  and  the  object  of  the  search. 

Sect.  10.  Excessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor  excessive 
fines  imposed,  nor  excessive  punishments  inflicted;  nor  shall  the 
legislature  make  any  law  impairing  the  obligation  of  contracts, 
nor  any  law  rendering  any  act  punishable  in  any  manner  in 
which  it  was  not  punishable  wdien  it  was  committed. 

Sect.  11.  All  elections  shall  be  by  ballot;  and  every  male  citi- 
zen of  twenty-one  years  of  age,  possessing  real  estate,  shall  have 
the  riirht  of  suffrage. 


136  AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

Sect.  12.  The  people  have  a  right  to  keep  and  to  bear  arms  for 
the  common  defence.  And  as,  in  time  of  peace,  armies  are  dan- 
gerous to  liberty,  they  ought  not  to  be  maintained  without  the 
consent  of  the  legislature ;  and  the  military  power  shall  always  be 
held  in  exact  subordination  to  the  civil  authority,  and  be  governed 
by  it. 

Sect.  13.  Private  property  shall  not  be  taken  for  public  use 
without  just  compensation. 

Sect.  14.  The  powers  of  this  government  shall  be  divided  into 
three  distinct  departments,  the  legislative,  executive,  and  judi- 
cial ;  and  no  person  belonging  to  one  of  these  departments  sliall 
exercise  any  of  the  powers  belonging  to  either  of  the  others.  This 
section  is  not  to  be  construed  to  include  Justices  of  the  Peace. 

Sect.  15.  The  liberty  of  the  press  is  essential  to  the  security  of 
freedom  in  a  State  :  it  ought  not,  therefore,  to  be  restrained  in  this 
Republic. 

The  press  shall  be  free  to  every  person  who  undertakes  to  ex- 
amine the  proceedings  of  the  legislature  or  any  branch  of  govern- 
ment ;  and  no  law  shall  ever  be  made  to  restrain  the  rights  thereof. 
The  free  communication  of  thoughts  and  opinions  is  one  of  the 
invaluable  rights  of  man ;  and  every  citizen  may  freely  speak, 
write,  and  print  on  any  subject,  being  responsible  for  the  abuse  of 
that  liberty. 

In  prosecutions  for  the  publication  of  papers  investigating  the 
official  conduct  of  officers,  or  men  in  a  public  capacity,  or  where 
the  matter  published  is  proper  for  public  information,  the  truth 
thereof  may  be  given  in  evidence.  And  in  all  indictments  for  li- 
bels, the  jury  shall  have  a  right  to  determine  the  law  and  the  facts 
under  the  direction  of  the  court,  as  in  other  cases. 

Sect.  16.  No  subsidy,  charge,  impost,  or  duties  ought  to  be 
established,  fixed,  laid,  or  levied,  under  any  pretext  whatsoever, 
without  the  consent  of  the  people,  or  their  representatives  in  the 
legislature. 

Sect.  17.  Suits  may  be  brought  against  the  Republic  in  such 
manner  and  in  such  cases  as  the  legislature  may  by  law  direct. 


CONSTITUTION   OF   LIBERIA.  137 

Sect.  18.  No  person  can,  in  any  case,  be  subjected  to  the  law- 
martial,  or  to  any  penalties  or  pains  by  virtue  of  that  law  (except 
those  employed  in  the  army  or  navy,  and  except  the  militia  in  act- 
ual service),  but  by  the  authority  of  the  legislature. 

Sect,  19.  In  order  to  prevent  those  wdio  are  vested  with  au- 
thority from  becoming  oppressors,  the  people  have  a  right,  at  such 
periods  and  in  such  manner  as  they  shall  establish  by  their  frame 
of  government,  to  cause  their  public  officers  to  return  to  private 
life,  and  fill  np  vacant  places  by  certain  and  regular  elections  and 
appointments. 

Sect.  20.  That  all  prisoners  shall  be  bailable  by  sufficient  sure- 
ties, unless  for  capital  offences  when  the  proof  is  evident  or  pre- 
sumption great ;  and  the  privilege  and  the  benefit  of  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus  shall  be  enjoyed  in  this  Republic,  in  the  most  free, 
easy,  cheap,  expeditious,  and  ample  manner,  and  shall  not  be  sus- 
pended by  the  legislature,  except  upon  the  most  urgent  and  press- 
ing occasions,  and  for  a  limited  time,  not  exceeding  twelve  months. 

ARTICLE    II. 

Legislative   Powers. 

Section  1,  The  legislative  power  shall  be  vested  in  a  Legisla- 
ture of  Liberia,  and  consist  of  two  separate  branches,  —  a  House 
of  Representatives  and  a  Senate,  — to  be  styled  the  Legislature  of 
Liberia,  each  of  which  shall  have  a  negative  on  the  other ;  and 
the  enacting  style  of  their  acts  and  laws  shall  be,  "  It  is  enacted 
by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Republic  of 
Liberia  in  Legislature  assembled," 

Sect.  2.  The  representatives  shall  be  elected  by  and  for  the  in- 
habitants of  the  several  counties  of  Liberia,  and  shall  be  appor- 
tioned among  the  several  counties  of  Liberia  as  follows:  The 
County  of  Montserado  shall  have  four  representatives,  the  County 
of  Grand  Bassa  shall  have  three,  and  the  County  of  Sinoe  shall 
have  one ;  and  all  counties  hereafter  which  shall  be  admitted  in  the 

18 


138  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION    SOCIETY. 

Republic  shall  have  one  representative,  and  for  every  ten  thousand 
inhabitants  one  representative  shall  be  added.  No  person  shall  be 
a  representative  who  has  not  resided  in  the  county  two  whole 
years  immediately  previous  to  his  election,  and  who  shall  not,  when 
elected,  be  an  inhabitant  of  the  county,  and  does  not  own  real  es- 
tate of  not  less  value  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  in  the 
county  in  which  he  resides,  and  who  shall  not  have  attained  the 
age  of  twenty-three  years.  The  representatives  shall  be  elected 
biennially,  and  shall  serve  two  years  from  the  time  of  their  elec- 
tion. 

Sect.  3.  When  a  vacancy  occurs  in  the  representation  of  any 
county  by  death,  resignation,  or  otherwise,  it  shall  be  filled  by  a 
new  election. 

Sect.  4.  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  elect  their  own 
speaker  and  other  officers.  They  shall  also  have  the  sole  power  of 
impeachment. 

Sect.  5.  The  Senate  shall  consist  of  two  members  from  Mont- 
serado  County,  two  from  Bassa  County,  two  fi'om  Sinoe  County, 
and  two  from  each  county  which  may  be  hereafter  incorporated  into 
this  Republic.  No  person  shall  be  a  senator  who  shall  not  have 
resided  three  whole  years  immediately  previous  to  his  election  in 
the  Republic  of  Liberia,  and  who  shall  not,  when  elected,  be  an 
inhabitant  of  the  county  which  he  represents,  and  who  does  not 
own  real  estate  of  not  less  value  than  two  hundred  dollars  in  the 
county  which  he  rejiresents,  and  who  shall  not  have  attained  the 
age  of  twenty-five  years.  The  senator  for  each  county  who  shall 
have  the  highest  number  of  votes  shall  retain  his  seat  for  four 
years ;  and  the  one  who  shall  have  the  next  highest  number  of  votes, 
two  years ;  and  all  who  are  afterwards  elected  to  fill  their  seats 
shall  remain  in  office  four  years. 

Sect.  6.  The  Senate  shall  try  all  impeachments,  the  senators 
being  first  sworn  or  solemnly  affirmed  to  try  the  same  impartially, 
and  according  to  law ;  and  no  person  shall  be  convicted  but  by  the 
concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  the  senators  present.     Judgment  in 


CONSTITUTION   OF  LIBERIA.  139 

such  cases  shall  not  extend  beyond  removal  from  office,  and  dis- 
qualification to  hold  an  office  in  the  Republic ;  but  the  party  may 
still  be  tried  at  law  for  the  same  offence. 

When  either  the  President  or  Vice-President  is  to  be  tried,  the 
Chief  Justice  shall  preside. 

Sect.  7.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Legislature,  as  soon  as  con- 
veniently may  be  after  the  adoption  of  this  constitution,  and  once 
at  least  in  every  ten  years  afterwards,  to  cause  a  true  census  to  be 
taken  of  each  town  and  county  of  the  Republic  of  Liberia ;  and  a 
representative  shall  be  allowed  every  town  having  a  pojmlation  of 
ten  thousand  inhabitants ;  and,  for  every  additional  ten  thousand  in 
the  counties  after  the  first  census,  one  representative  shall  be  added 
to  that  county,  until  the  number  of  representatives  shall  amount  to 
thirty.  Afterwards,  one  representative  shall  be  added  for  every 
thirty  thousand. 

Sect.  8.  Each  branch  of  the  legislature  shall  be  judge  of  the 
election  returns  and  qualifications  of  its  own  members.  A  major- 
ity of  each  shall  be  necessary  to  transact  business ;  but  a  less  num- 
ber may  adjourn  from  day  to  day,  and  compel  the  attendance  of 
absent  members.  Each  house  may  adopt  its  own  rules  of  proceed- 
ing, enforce  order,  and,  with  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds,  may 
expel  a  member. 

Sect.  9.  Neither  house  shall  adjourn  for  more  than  two  days 
without  the  consent  of  the  other ;  and  both  houses  shall  sit  in  the 
same  town. 

Sect.  10.  Every  bill  or  resolution  which  shall  have  passed  both 
bi'anches  of  the  Legislature,  shall,  before  it  becomes  a  law,  be  laid 
before  the  President  for  his  approval.  If  he  approves,  he  shall 
shall  sign  it ;  if  not,  he  shall  return  it  to  the  Legislature  with  his 
objections :  if  the  Legislature  shall  afterwards  pass  the  bill  or  reso- 
lution by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  in  each  branch,  it  shall  become  a  law. 
If  the  President  shall  neglect  to  return  such  bill  or  resolution  to 
the  Legislature,  with  his  objection,  for  five  days  after  the  same  shall 
have  been  so  laid  before  him,  —  the  Legislature  remaining  in  session 


140  AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

(iuring  that   time,  such  neglect  shall  be  equivalent  to  his  signa- 
ture. 

Sect.  11.  The  Senators  and  Representatives  shall  receive  from 
the  Republic  a  compensation  for  their  services,  to  be  ascertained  by 
law ;  and  shall  be  privileged  from  arrest  except  for  treason,  felony, 
or  breach  of  the  peace,  while  attending  at,  going  to,  or  returning 
from,  the  session  of  the  Legislature. 

AETICLK    III. 

.Executive  Power. 

Section  1.  The  Supreme  Executive  power  shall  be  vested  in  a 
President,  who  shall  be  elected  by  the  people,  and  shall  hold  his 
office  for  the  term  of  two  years.  He  shall  be  commander-in-chief 
of  the  army  and  navy.  He  shall,  in  the  recess  of  the  legislature, 
have  power  to  call  out  the  militia,  or  any  portion  thereof,  into 
actual  service  in  defence  of  the  Republic.  He  shall  have  power 
to  make  treaties,  provided  the  Senate  concur  therein  by  a  vote  of 
two-thirds  of  the  senators  present.  He  shall  nominate,  and,  with 
the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  appoint  and  commission,  all 
ambassadors  and  other  public  ministers  and  consuls,  secretaries 
of  state,  of  war,  of  the  navy,  and  of  the  treasury,  attorney- 
general,  all  judges  of  courts,  sheriffs,  coroners,  marshals,  justices  of 
the  peace,  clerks  of  courts,  registers,  notaries  public,  and  all  other 
officers  of  State,  civil  and  military,  whose  appointment  may  not  be 
otherwise  provided  for  by  the  constitution,  or  by  standing  laws. 
And,  in  the  recess  of  the  Senate,  he  may  fill  any  vacancy  in  those 
offices,  until  the  next  session  of  the  Senate.  He  shall  receive  all 
ambassadors  and  other  public  ministers.  He  shall  take  care  that 
the  laws  be  faithfully  executed ;  he  shall  inform  the  Legislature, 
from  time  to  time,  of  the  condition  of  the  Republic,  and  recom- 
mend any  public  measures  for  their  adoption  which  he  may  think 
expedient.  He  may,  after  conviction,  remit  any  public  forfeitures 
and  penalties,  and  grant  reprieves  and  pardofis  for  public  oflcnces, 


CONSTITUTION   OF   LIBERIA.  141 

except  in  cases  of  impeachment.  He  may  require  information 
and  advice  from  any  public  officer,  touching  matters  pertaining 
to  his  office.  He  may,  on  extraordinary  occasions,  convene  the 
Legislature,  and  may  adjourn  the  two  houses  whenever  they  can- 
not agree  as  to  the  time  of  adjournment. 

Sect.  2.  There  shall  be  a  Vice-President,  who  shall  be  elected  in 
the  same  manner  and  for  the  same  term  as  that  of  the  President, 
and  whose  qualifications  shall  be  the  same.  He  shall  be  President  of 
the  Senate,  and  give  the  casting  vote  when  the  house  is  equally 
divided  on  any  subject.  And  in  case  of  the  removal  of  the  Presi- 
dent from  office,  or  his  death,  resignation,  or  inability  to  discharge 
the  powers  and  duties  of  the  said  office,  the  same  shall  devolve 
on  the  Vice-President ;  and  the  Legislature  may  bylaw  provide  for 
the  case  of  removal,  death,  resignation,  or  inability,  both  of  the 
President  and  Vice-President,  declaring  what  officer  shall  then  act 
as  President ;  and  such  officer  shall  act  accordingly,  until  the  dis- 
ability be  removed,  or  a  President  shall  be  elected. 

Sect.  3.  The  Secretary  of  State  shall  keep  the  records  of  the 
State,  and  all  the  records  and  papers  of  the  legislative  body,  and 
all  other  public  records  and  documents  not  belonging  to  any  other 
department,  and  shall  lay  the  same,  when  required,  before  the 
President  or  Legislature.  He  shall  attend  upon  them  when  re- 
quired, and  perform  such  other  duties  as  may  be  enjoined  by  law. 

Sect.  4.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  or  other  persons  who 
may  by  law  be  charged  with  the  custody  of  the  public  moneys, 
shall,  before  he  receive  such  moneys,  give  bonds  to  the  State,  with 
sufficient  sureties  to  the  acceptance  of  the  Legislature,  for  the 
faithful  discharge  of  his  trust.  He  shall  exhibit  a  true  account  of 
such  moneys  when  required  by  the  President  or  Legislature ;  and 
no  moneys  shall  be  drawn  from  the  treasury  but  by  warrant  from 
the  President,  in  consequence  of  appropriation  made  by  law. 

Sect.  5.  All  ambassadors  and  other  public  ministers  and  consuls, 
the  Secretary  of  State,  of  War,  of  the  Treasury,  ;ind  of  the  Navy, 
the    Attorney-general,  and    Postmaster-genei-al,  shall  hold  their 


142  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION    SOCIETY. 

offices  during  the  pleasure  of  the  President.  All  justices  of  the 
peace,  sheriffs,  marshals,  clerks  of  courts,  registers,  and  notaries 
public,  shall  hold  their  office  for  the  terra  of  two  years  frora  the 
date  of  their  respective  commissions,  but  may  be  removed  from  of- 
fice within  that  time  by  the  President,  at  his  pleasure ;  and  all 
other  officers  whose  term  of  office  may  not  be  otherwise  limited  by 
law,  shall  hold  their  office  during  the  pleasure  of  the  President. 

Sect.  6.  Every  civil  officer  may  be  removed  from  office,  by  im- 
peachment, for  official  misconduct.  Every  such  officer  may  also  be 
removed  by  the  President,  upon  the  address  of  both  brandies  of 
the  Legislature,  stating  the  particular  reasons  for  his  removal. 

Sect.  7.  No  person  shall  be  eligible  to  the  office  of  President 
who  has  not  been  a  citizen  of  this  Republic  for  at  least  five  years, 
and  shall  not  have  attained  the  age  of  thirty-five  years ;  and  who 
shall  not  be  possessed  of  unincumbered  real  estate,  of  not  less 
value  than  six  hundred  dollars. 

Sect.  8.  The  President  shall  at  stated  times  receive  for  his 
services  a  compensation,  which  shall  neither  be  increased  nor  di- 
minished during  the  period  for  which  he  shall  have  been  elected. 
And,  before  he  enters  on  the  execution  of  his  office,  he  shall  take 
the  following  oath  or  affirmation :  — 

I  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that  I  will  faithfully  execute 
the  office  of  the  President  of  the  Republic  of  Liberia,  and  will 
to  the  best  of  my  ability  preserve,  protect,  and  defend  the  con- 
stitution, and  enforce  the  laws,  of  the  Republic  of  Liberia. 

article  IV. 

tTudicial  Department. 

Section  1.  The  judicial  power  of  this  Republic  shall  be  vested 
in  one  Supreme  Court,  and  such  subordinate  courts  as  the  Legis- 
lature may  from  time  to  time  establish.  The  judges  of  the  Su- 
preme Court,  and  all  other  judges  of  courts,  shall  hold  their  office 
during  good  ]>chavior,  but  may  be  removed  by  the  President  on 


CONSTITUTION   OF   LIBERIA.  143 

the  address  of  two-thirds  of  both  houses  for  that  purpose,  or  by 
impeachment  and  conviction  thereon.  The  judges  shall  have  sal- 
aries established  by  law,  which  may  be  increased,  but  not  dimin- 
ished, during  their  continuance  in  office.  They  shall  not  receive 
any  other  perquisite  or  emoluments  whatever,  from  parties  or 
others  on  account  of  any  duty  required  of  them. 

Sect.  2.  The  Supreme  Court  shall  have  original  jurisdiction  in 
all  cases  affecting  ambassadors  or  other  public  ministers  and  con- 
suls, and  those  to  which  the  Republic  shall  be  a  party.  In  all 
other  cases,  the  Supreme  Court  shall  have  appellate  jurisdiction, 
both  as  to  law  and  fact,  with  such  exceptions,  and  under  such 
regulations,  as  the  legislature  shall  from  time  to  time  make. 

ARTICLE    V. 

Miscellaneous  Provisions. 

Section  1.  All  laws  now  in  force  in  the  Commonwealth  of 
Liberia,  and  not  repugnant  to  this  constitution,  shall  be  in  force 
as  the  laws  of  the  Republic  of  Liberia,  until  they  shall  be  re- 
pealed by  the  Legislature. 

Sect.  2.  All  judges,  magistrates,  and  other  officers  now  concerned 
in  the  administration  of  justice  in  the  Commonwealth  of  Liberia, 
and  all  other  existing  civil  and  military  officers  therein,  shall  con- 
tinue to  hold  and  discharge  their  respective  offices  in  the  name 
and  by  the  authority  of  the  Republic,  until  others  shall  be  ap- 
pointed and  commissioned  in  their  stead  pursuant  to  this  Constitu- 
tion. 

Sect.  3.  All  towns  and  municipal  corporations  within  this  Re- 
public, constituted  under  the  laws  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Li- 
beria, shall  retain  their  existing  organizations  and  privileges ;  and 
the  resj^ective  officers  thereof  shall  remain  in  office,  and  act  under 
the  authority  of  this  Republic,  in  the  same  manner  and  Avith  the 
like  powers  as  they  now  possess  under  the  laws  of  said  Common- 
wealth. 


144  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

Sect.  4.  The  first  election  of  President,  Vice-President,  Senators 
and  Representatives,  shall  be  held  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  October 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  eighteen  hundred  and  forty-seven,  in  the 
same  manner  as  elections  of  members  of  the  council  are  chosen  in 
the  Commonwealth  of  Liberia ;  and  the  votes  shall  be  certified  and 
returned  to  the  Colonial  Secretary ;  and  the  result  of  the  election 
shall  be  ascertained,  posted,  and  notified  by  him  as  it  is  now  by  law 
provided  in  case  of  such  members  of  council. 

Sect.  5.  All  other  elections  of  President,  Vice-President,  Senat- 
ors and  Representatives,  shall  be  held  in  the  respective  towns  on 
the  first  Tuesday  in  May,  in  every  two  yeai-s,  to  be  held  and  regu- 
lated in  such  manner  as  the  Legislature  may  by  law  prescribe.  The 
returns  of  votes  shall  be  made  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  who 
shall  open  the  same,  and  forthwith  issue  notice  of  the  election  to 
the  persons  apparently  so  elected  Senators  and  Representatives ; 
and  all  such  returns  shall  be  by  him  laid  before  the  Legislature  at 
its  next  ensuing  session,  together  with  a  list  of  the  names  of  the 
persons  who  appear  by  such  returns  to  have,  been  duly  elected 
Senators  and  Representatives ;  and  the  persons  appearing  by  said 
returns  to  be  duly  elected  shall  proceed  to  organize  themselves  ac- 
cordingly as  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives.  The  votes 
for  President  shall  be  sorted,  counted,  and  declared  by  the  House 
of  Representatives ;  and,  if  no  person  shall  appear  to  have  a  ma- 
jority of  such  votes,  the  Senators  and  Representatives  present 
shall  in  convention,  by  joint  ballot,  elect  from  among  the  persons 
having  the  three  highest  numbers  of  votes  a  person  to  act  as 
President  for  the  ensuing  term. 

Sect.  6,  The  Legislature  shall  assemble  once  at  least  in  every 
yeai',  and  such  meeting  shall  be  on  the  first  Monday  in  January, 
unless  a  different  day  shall  be  appointed  by  law. 

Sect.  7.  Every  legislator  and  other  officer  appointed  under  this 
constitution,  shall,  before  he  enters  upon  the  duties  of  his  office, 
take  and  subscribe  a  solemn  oath  or  affirmation  to  support  the  Con- 
stitution of  this  Republic,  and  faithfully  and  impartially  discharge 


CONSTITUTION    OF    LIBERIA.  145 

the  duties  of  such  office.  The  presiding  officer  of  the  Senate  shall 
administer  such  oath  or  affirmation  to  the  President,  in  convention 
of  both  houses ;  and  the  President  shall  administer  the  same  to 
the  Vice-President,  to  the  Senators  and  to  the  Representatives  in 
like  manner.  If  the  President  is  unable  to  attend,  the  Chief  Jus- 
tice of  the  Supreme  Court  may  administer  the  oath  or  affirmation 
to  him  at  any  place,  and  also  to  the  Vice-President,  Senators  and 
Representatives  in  convention.  Other  officers  may  take  such 
oath  or  affirmation  before  the  President,  Chief  Justice,  or  any  other 
person  who  may  be  designated  by  law. 

Sect.  8.  All  elections  of  public  officers  shall  be  made  by  a  ma- 
jority of  the  votes,  except  in  cases  otherwise  regulated  by  the  con- 
stitution or  by  law. 

Sect.  9.  Officers  created  by  this  constitution  which  the  circum- 
stances of  the  Republic  do  not  require  that  they  shall  be  filled, 
shall  not  be  filled  until  the  Legislature  shall  deem  it  necessary. 

Sect.  10.  The  property  of  which  a  woman  may  be  possessed  at 
the  time  of  her  marriage,  and  also  that  of  which  she  may  after- 
wards become  possessed,  otherwise  than  by  her  husband,  shall  not 
be  held  responsible  for  his  debts,  whether  contracted  before  or  after 
marriage. 

Nor  shall  the  property  thus  intended  to  be  secured  to  the  woman 
be  alienated  otherwise  than  by  her  free  and  voluntary  consent ; 
and  such  alienation  may  be  made  by  her  either  by  sale,  devise,  or 
otherwise. 

Sect.  11.  In  all  cases  in  which  estates  are  insolvent,  the  widow 
shall  be  entitled  to  one-third  of  the  real  estate  during  her  natural 
life,  and  to  one-third  of  the  personal  estate,  which  she  shall  hold 
in  her  own  right,  subject  to  alienation  by  her  by  devise  or  otherwise. 

Sect.  12.  No  person  shall  be  entitled  to  hold  real  estate  in  this 
Republic  unless  he  be  a  citizen  of  the  same.  Nevertheless,  this 
article  shall  not  be  construed  to  apply  to  colonization,  missionary, 
educational,  or  other  benevolent  institutions,  so  long  as  the  prop- 
erty or  estate  is  applied  to  its  legitimate  purposes. 

19 


146  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

Sect.  13.  The  great  object  of  forming  these  colonies  being  to 
provide  a  home  for  the  dispersed  and  oppressed  children  of  Africa, 
and  to  regenerate  and  enlighten  this  benighted  continent,  none  but 
persons  of  color  shall  be  admitted  to  citizenship  in  this  Republic. 

Sect.  14.  The  purchase  of  any  land  by  any  citizen  or  citizens 
fi"om  the  aborigines  of  this  country,  for  his  or  their  own  use,  or  for 
the  benefit  of  others,  as  estate  or  estates  in  fee  simple,  shall  be  con- 
sidered null  and  void  to  all  intents  and  purposes. 

Sect.  15.  The  improvement  of  the  native  tribes  and  their  ad- 
vancement in  the  arts  of  agriculture  and  husbandry  being  a  cher- 
ished object  of  this  govei-nment,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  President 
to  ajDpoint  in  each  county  some  discreet  person,  whose  duty  it 
shall  be  to  make  regular  and  periodical  tours  through  the  coun- 
try, for  the  purpose  of  calling  the  attention  of  the  natives  to 
these  wholesome  branches  of  industry,  and  of  instructing  them 
in  the  same ;  and  the  legislature  shall,  as  soon  as  can  conveni- 
ently be  done,  make  provision  for  these  purposes  by  the  appro- 
priation of  money. 

Sect.  16.  The  existing  regulations  of  the  American  Colonization 
Society,  in  the  Commonwealth,  relative  to  emigrants,  shall  re- 
main the  same  in  the  Republic,  iintil  regulated  by  compact  be- 
tween the  Society  and  the  Republic :  nevertheless,  the  Legis- 
lature shall  make  no  law  prohibiting  emigration ;  and  it  shall 
be  among  the  first  duties  of  the  legislature  to  take  measures  to 
arrange  the  future  relations  between  the  American  Colonization 
Society  and  this  Republic. 

Sect.  17.  This  Constitution  may  be  altered  whenever  two-thirds 
of  both  branches  of  the  legislature  shall  deem  it  necessary  ;  in 
which  case  the  alterations  or  amendments  shall  first  be  consid- 
ered and  approved  by  the  legislature,  by  the  concurrence  of 
two-thirds  of  the  members  of  each  branch,  and  afterwards  by 
them  submitted  to  the  people,  and  adopted  by  two-thirds  of  all 
the  electors  at  the  next  biennial  meeting  for  the  election  of  sen- 
ators and  representatives. 


CONSTITUTION   OF  LIBERIA.  147 

Done  in  Convention  at  Monrovia,  in  the  County  of  Montsera- 
do,  by  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  people  of  the  Commonwealth 
of  Liberia,  tliis  twenty-sixth  day  of  July,  in  the  year  of  our  L^rd 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-seven,  and  of  the  Repub- 
lic the  first. 

In  witness  whereof  we  have  hereto  set  our  names. 

S.  BENEDICT.  President,  -] 

J.  N.  LEWIS, 

H.  TEAGE, 

BEVERLY   R.  WILSON, 

ELIJAH  JOHNSON, 

J.  B.  GRIPON, 

JOHN  DAY, 

A.  W.  GARDNER, 

A"MOS  HERRING, 

EPHRAIM  TILLER, 

R.  E.  MURRAY,  County  o?  Sinoe. 

J.  W.  PROUT,  Secretary  of  Convention. 


Montserado  County. 


Grand    Bassa  County. 


Monrovia,  July  29,  1847. 

Fellow-Citizens,  —  Having  finished  our  labors,  we  now  have 
the  honor  of  submitting  to  your  consideration,  through  the  Govern- 
or, that  Constitution  which,  in  our  opinion,  will  best  suit  the  pe- 
culiar circumstances  of  the  people  of  this  infant  Republic.  That 
our  labors  will  meet  the  full  approbation  of  every  individual  citi- 
zen is  scarcely  to  be  expected.  We  trust,  however,  that  a  large 
majority  of  our  fellow-citizens  will  approve  our  doings,  and  adopt 
the  constitution  herewith  submitted. 

In  our  deliberations,  we  endeavored  to  keep  our  minds  steadily 
fixed  upon  the  great  objects  of  civil  government,  and  have  done 
what  we  conceived  to  be  best  for  the  general  interest  of  this  rising 
Republic.  We  endeavored  carefully  to  arrange  every  subject  that 
might  possibly  arise,  calculated  to  disturb  in  the  least  the  friendly 


148  AMERICAN    COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

feeling  which  noM'  so  happily  subsists  between  the  different  coun- 
ties of  this  Republic.  We  felt  deeply  the  importance  and  magni- 
tude of  the  work  submitted  to  our  hands,  and  have  done  the  very 
best  we  could  in  order  to  afford  general  satisfaction. 

In  view  of  the  peculiarity  of  our  circumstances,  the  new  posi- 
tion we  have  assumed  is  indeed  a  gigantic  one ;  and  the  govern- 
ment now  calls  to  its  support  every  citizen  who  is  at  all  concerned 
for  the  safety  and  future  prosperity  of  this  our  only  home. 

Knowing,  however,  that  our  cause  is  just,  we  feel  encouraged, 
and  believe  that  under  God,  by  a  speedy  perseverance,  we  shall 
fully  succeed. 

In  publishing  to  the  world  our  Independence^  we  have  thought 
proper  to  accompany  that  document  with  a  declaration  of  the 
causes  which  induced  us  to  leave  the  land  of  our  nativity,  and  to 
form  settlements  on  this  coast ;  and  also  an  appeal  to  the  sympa- 
thies of  all  civilized  nations,  soliciting  their  aid  and  protection, 
and  especially  that  they  would,  notwithstanding  our  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances, speedily  recognize  our  Independence. 

And  that  the  flag  of  this  Republic  at  no  distant  day  may  be  seen 
floating  upon  every  breeze,  and  in  every  land  respected. 

It  is  our  earnest  desire  that  the  affairs  of  this  government  may 
be  so  conducted  as  to  merit  the  approbation  of  all  Christendom, 
and  restore  to  Africa  her  long-lost  glory ;  and  that  Liberia,  under 
the  guidance  of  Heaven,  may  continue  a  happy  asylum  for  our  long- 
oppressed  race,  and  a  blessing  to  the  benighted  and  degraded 
natives  of  this  vast  peninsula  :  to  secure  which  is  our  ardent  wish 
and  prayer. 

With  great  respect,  we  have  the  honor  of  being 

Your  obedient  and  humble  servants. 

By  the  unanimous  order  of  the  convention, 

Samuel  Benedict, 

President. 


1 


ADDRESS  OF  PKESIDENT  ROBERTS.         149 


FLAG  AND  SEAL  OF  THE  REPUBLIC  OF  LIBERIA. 

The  following  flag  and  seal  were  adopted  by  the  Convention 
as  the  insignia  of  the  Republic  of  Liberia,  and  ordered  to  be  em- 
ployed to  mark  its  nationality  :  — 

Flag.  —  Six  red  stripes  with  five  white  stripes,  alternately  dis- 
played longitudinally.  In  the  upper  angle  of  the  flag,  next  to 
the  spear,  a  square  blue  ground  covering  in  depth  five  stripes.  In 
the  centre  of  the  blue,  one  white  star. 

Seal.  —  A  dove  on  the  wing,  with  an  open  scroll  in  its  claws.  A 
view  of  the  ocean,  with  a  ship  under  sail.  The  sun,  just  emerging 
from  the  waters.  A  palm-tree,  and  at  its  base  a  plough  and  spade. 
Beneath  the  emblems,  the  words  Republic  of  Liberia,  and  above 
the  emblems,  the  national  motto,  the  love  of  liberty  brought 
us  here. 

The  former  seal  of  the  Commonwealth  is  ordered  to  be  used 
until  that  for  the  Republic  shall  be  engraved. 

By  order  of  the  convention. 

S.  Benedict, 

President. 


INAUGURAL    ADDRESS 

OF   HIS    EXCELLENCY  J.  J.  ROBERTS,   PRESIDENT   OF   THE   REPUBLIC    OF 

LIBERIA. 

Delivered  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  Legislature  of  the  Republic,  Jan.  3,  1848. 


Fellow-Citizens,  —  Before  I  proceed  to  add  the  solemnity  of 
an  oath  to  the  obligations  imposed  on  me,  it  is  with  great  pleasure 
I  avail  myself  of  the  occasion,  now  presented,  to  express  the  pro- 
found impressions  made  on  me  by  the  call  of  ray  fellow-citizens  to 
the  station  and  the  duties  to  which  I  am  now  about  to  pledge 
myself  So  distinguished  a  mark  of  confidence,  proceeding  from 
the  deliberate  suffrage  of  my  fellow-citizens,  would,  under  any  cir 
cumstances,  have  commanded  my  gratitude  and  devotion,  as  well 
as  filled  me  with  an  awful  sense  of  the  trust  to  be  assumed.  But 
I  feel  particularly  gratified  at  this  evidence  of  the  confidence  of 
my  fellow-citizens,  inasmuch  as  it  strengthens  the  impression  on 
me,  that  my  endeavors  to  discharge  faithfully  the  duties  which  de- 
volved on  me  as  Chief  Executive  officer  of  the  Commonwealth, 
during  the  last  six  years  of  our  political  connection  with  the 
American  Colonization  Society,  have  been  favorably  estimated.  I 
nevertheless  meet  the  responsibilities  of  this  day  with  feelings  of 
the  deepest  solicitude.  I  feel,  fellow-citizens,  that  the  present  is  a 
momentous  period  in  the  history  of  Liberia;  and  I  assure  you, 
imder  the  various  circumstances  which  give  peculiar  solemnity  to 
the  crisis,  I  am  sensible  that  both  the  honor  and  tlie  responsibility 
alloted  to  me  are  inexpressibly  enhanced. 

"We  have  just  entered  upon  a  new  and  important  career.     To 


ADDEESS   OF   PRESIDENT  ROBERTS.  151 

give  effect  to  all  the  measures  and  powers  of  the  government, 
we  have  found  it  necessary  to  remodel  our  Constitution  and  to 
erect  ourselves  into  an  independent  State,  which,  in  its  infancy, 
is  exposed  to  numberless  hazards  and  perils,  and  which  can  never 
attain  to  maturity  or  ripen  into  firmness,  unless  it  is  managed 
with  affectionate  assiduity  and  guarded  by  great  abilities.  I 
therefore  deeply  deplore  my  want  of  talents,  and  feel  my  mind 
filled  with  anxiety  and  uneasiness  to  find  myself  so  unequal  to 
the  duties  of  the  important  station  to  which  I  am  called.  When 
I  reflect  upon  the  weight  and  magnitude  now  belonging  to  the 
station,  and  the  many  difficulties  which,  in  the  nature  or  things, 
must  necessarily  attend  it,  I  feel  more  like  retreating  from  the 
responsible  position,  than  attempting  to  go  forward  in  the  discharge 
of  the  duties  of  my  office. 

Indeed,  gentlemen  of  the  Legislature,  if  I  had  less  reliance  upon 
your  co-operation  and  the  indulgence  and  support  of  a  reflecting 
people,  and  felt  less  deeply  a  consciousness  of  the  duty  I  owe  my 
country,  and  a  conviction  of  the  guidance  of  an  all-wise  Provi- 
dence in  the  management  of  our  political  affairs,  I  should  be  com- 
pelled to  shrink  from  the  task.  I,  however,  enter  upon  the  duties 
assigned  me,  relying  upon  your  wisdom  and  virtue  to  supply  my 
defects,  and  under  the  full  conviction  that  my  fellow-citizens  at 
large,  who,  on  the  most  trying  occasions,  have  always  manifested  a 
degree  of  patriotism,  perseverance,  and  fidelity,  that  would  reflect 
credit  upon  the  citizens  of  any  country,  vnW  support  the  govern- 
ment established  by  their  voluntary  consent,  and  appointed  by  their 
own  free  choice. 

While  I  congratulate  my  fellow-citizens  on  the  dawn  of  a  new 
and  more  perfect  government,  I  would  also  remind  them  of  the 
increased  responsibility  they  too  have  assumed. 

Indeed,  if  there  ever  was  a  period  in  the  annals  of  Liberia,  for 
popular  jealousy  to  be  awakened,  and  popular  virtue  to  exert  itself, 
it  is  the  present.  Other  eras,  I  know,  have  been  marked  by  dan- 
gers and  difficulties  which  "tried  men's  souls;"  but,  whatever  was 


152  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

their  measure,  disappointment  and  overthrow  have  generally  been 
their  fate.  That  ])atriotism  and  virtue  which  distinguish  men  of 
every  age,  clime,  and  color,  who  are  determined  to  be  free,  never  for- 
sook that  little  band  of  patriots  —  the  pioneers  in  this  noble  enter- 
prise —  in  the  hour  of  important  trial.  At  a  time  when  they  were 
almost  without  arms,  ammunition,  discipline,  or  government,  —  a 
mere  handful  of  isolated  Christian  pilgrims  in  pursuit  of  civil 
and  religious  liberty,  surrounded  by  savage  and  warlike  tribes  bent 
upon  their  ruin  and  total  annihilation,  —  with  "a  staff  and  a  sling" 
only,  as  it  were,  they  determined,  in  the  name  of  the  "  Lord  of 
Hosts,"  to  stand  their  gi-ound,  and  defend  themselves  to  the  last 
extremity  against  their  powerful  adversary.  And  need  I  remind 
you,  fellow-citizeus,  how  signally  Almighty  God  delivered  them, 
and  how  he  has  hitherto  prospered  and  crowned  all  our  efforts 
with  success? 

These  first  adventurers,  inspired  by  tlie  love  of  liberty  and 
equal  rights,  supported  by  industry  aud  protected  by  Heaven, 
became  inured  to  toil,  to  hardships,  and  to  war.  In  spite,  how- 
ever, of  every  obstacle,  they  obtained  a  settlement,  and  happily, 
under  God,  succeeded  in  laying  here  the  foundation  of  a  free 
government.  Their  attention,  of  course,  was  then  turned  to  the 
security  of  those  rights  for  which  they  had  encountered  so  many 
perils  and  inconveniencies.  For  this  purpose,  a  constitution,  or 
form  of  government,  anomalous,  it  is  true,  was  adopted. 

Under  the  circumstances,  expediency  required  that  certain 
powers  of  the  government  should  be  delegated  to  the  American 
Colonization  Society,  their  patrons  and  benefactors,  with  the 
understanding,  that,  whenever  the  colonies  should  feel  themselves 
capable  of  assuming  the  whole  responsibility  of  the  government, 
that  institution  would  resign  the  delegated  power,  and  leave  the 
people  to  the  government  of  themselves. 

At  that  time  it  was  scarcely  supposed,  I  presume,  that  the  colo- 
nies would  advance  so  rapidly  as  to  make  it  necessary,  or  even  de- 
sirable, on  the  part  of  the  colonists,  to  dissolve  that  connection 


ADDRESS  OF  PRESIDENT  ROBERTS.         153 

within  the  short  space  of  twenty-five  years.  Such,  however,  is  the 
case.     Necessity  has  demanded  it. 

Under  the  fostering  care  of  the  American  Colonization  Society, 
these  infant  settlements  soon  began  to  prosper  and  flourish ;  and 
a  profitable  trade,  in  a  few  years,  opened  an  intercourse  between 
them  and  the  subjects  and  citizens  of  foreign  countries.  This  in- 
tercourse eventually  involved  us  in  difiiculties  with  British  tra- 
ders, and,  of  consequence,  with  the  British  Government,  which 
could  not  be  settled,  for  the  want  of  certain  powers  in  the  govern- 
ment here,  not  provided  for  in  the  Constitution.  Nor,  indeed, 
would  the  British  Government  recognize  in  the  people  of  Liberia 
the  rights  of  sovereignty  —  "  such  as  imposing  custom  dues  and 
levying  taxes  upon  British  commerce  "  —  so  long  as  their  politi- 
cal connection  with  the  Colonization  Society  continued.  Under 
these  circumstances,  a  change  in  our  relations  with  the  Society, 
and  the  adoption  of  a  new  constitution,  were  deemed,  by  a  large 
majority  of  the  citizens  of  the  Commonwealth,  absolutely  neces- 
sary. Such  also  was  the  opinion  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the 
American  Colonization  Society,  who  recommended  the  measure  as 
the  only  means  of  relieving  the  government  from  these  embarrass- 
ments, and  the  citizens  from  innumerable  inconveniences. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  to  have  shrunk  from  the  responsibility, 
notwithstanding  weighty  reasons  adverse  to  the  measure  sug- 
gested themselves,  would  have  betrayed  a  weakness  and  timidity 
unbecoming  fi*eemen. 

Therefore,  on  full  consideration  of  all  the  circumstances,  it  ap- 
peared that  the  period  had  arrived  when  it  became  the  duty  of  the 
people  of  Liberia  to  assume  a  new  position,  —  such  a  one  that 
foreign  powers  would  consider  them  an  independent  nation. 

As  you  are  aware,  fellow-citizens,  the  independence  of  Liberia 
has  been  the  subject  of  much  speculation  and  some  animadversion, 
both  at  home  and  abroad. 

1st.  We  are  told  that  the  pecuniary  assistance  the  governnjent 
here  has  hitherto  received  from  the  Colonization  Society  will  now 

20 


154  AMERICAN  COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

cease ;  and  tliat  in  a  few  years  we  will  find  ourselves  gi-oaning 
under  enormous  taxes,  or  the  affairs  of  the  govenimcnt  will  he 
exceedingly  embarrassed,  if  not  totally  paralyzed. 

I  am  persuaded,  however,  that  this  conclusion  by  no  means  fol- 
lows. To  what  extent,  if  at  all,  the  Society  contemplates  with- 
drawing the  pecuniary  aid  hitherto  granted  to  the  Commonwealth, 
from  the  new  government,  I  am  not  advised  ;  nor  have  I  any  data 
upon  which  to  form  even  an  opinion  in  regard  to  it.  We  have 
this  assurance,  however,  from  Rev,  Mr.  McLain,  Secretary  of  the 
Society,  "  that  the  interest  of  the  Board  of  Directoi-s,  in  all  that 
concerns  the  people  of  Liberia,  will  not  be  diminished,  but  rather 
increased,  by  the  alteration  in  the  present  relations  subsisting 
between  them  and  the  American  Colonization  Society ;  and  that  it 
is  the  intention  of  the  Society  to  prosecute  its  work  as  vigorously 
as  heretofore,  and  on  the  same  high  and  liberal  principles." 

We  are  truly,  fellow-citizens,  under  many  obligations  to  the  Colo- 
nization Society.  Indeed,  it  is  impossible  for  one  people  to  have 
stronger  ties  upon  the  gratitude  of  another  than  that  Society  has 
upon  the  people  of  Liberia, 

To  the  wisdom,  philanthropy,  and  magnanhnity  of  the  members 
of  the  Colonization  Society,  who,  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury, have  watched  with  the  deepest  solicitude  the  progress  of 
these  colonies,  and  have  devoted  much  of  their  time  and  substance 
to  support  them,  we  owe,  under  God,  the  political,  civil,  and  reli- 
gious liberty  and  independence  we  this  day  enjoy;  and  I  have  no 
doubt  in  my  own  mind,  but  that  they  will  continue  to  aid  us  in 
every  way  the  circumstances  of  the  Society  will  admit  of. 

The  necessity  of  imposing  additional  taxes  upon  the  people  to 
meet  the  additional  expenses  of  the  government  consequent  upon 
the  new  order  of  things,  is  very  evident;  but  I  confess,  fellow- 
citizens,  I  can  see  no  just  grounds  of  fear  that  they  will  be 
enormous  or  oppressive. 

It  is  true,  that  for  the  first  few  years,  in  the  absence  of  any  for- 
eign assistance,  we  may  find  our  finances  somewhat  limited,  per- 


ADDRESS  OF  PRESIDENT  ROBERTS.         155 

haps  barely  sufficient  to  defray  the  ordinary  expenses  of  the  gov- 
ernment ;  but  in  a  country  like  ours,  abounding  in  a  sufficiency  of 
natural  resoui'ces,  which  are  so  easily  developed,  it  is  scarcely  prob- 
able that  the  government  at  any  time  will  be  greatly  embarrassed, 
certainly  not  totally  paralyzed. 

2d.  It  has  been  urged  that  the  numerical  strength  of  the  gov- 
ernment is  yet  too  small ;  and  that  we  have  not  sufficient  intelli- 
gence, experience,  or  wealth,  to  command  respect  abroad ;  and  that, 
in  the  event  foreign  powers  should  refuse  to  acknowledge  our  in- 
dependence, the  embarrassments  of  the  government  and  its  citi- 
zens will  be  increased,  rather  than  diminished. 

Now,  according  to  the  best  computation  I  am  at  present  able  to 
make,  and  which  I  believe  is  pretty  nearly  correct,  the  j^opulation 
of  Liberia  Proper  —  including,  of  course,  the  aboriginal  inhabitants 
who  have  incorporated  themselves  with  us,  and  subscribed  to  the 
constitution  and  laws  of  the  Republic  —  is  now  upwards  of  eighty 
thousand  ;  and  we  may  reasonably  suppose  that  the  inhabitants 
will  increase  almost  in  the  ratio  of  compound  interest.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  the  natural  poj^ulation  of  the  Republic,  in  the  course  of 
twenty  years,  will  be  doubled ;  and  we  have  great  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  the  number  of  immigrants  arriving  from  America,  and 
perhaps  other  countries,  will  be  very  considerable.  The  free  peo- 
ple of  color  in  the  United  States,  wearied  with  beating  the  air  to 
advance  themselves  to  equal  immunities  with  the  whites  in  that 
country,  and  tired  of  the  oppression  which  weighs  them  down 
there,  are  seriously  turning  their  attention  to  Liberia  as  the  only 
asylum  they  can  flee  to  and  be  happy. 

While  we  exceedingly  lament  the  want  of  greater  intelligence 
and  more  experience  to  fit  us  for  the  proper  or  more  perfect  man- 
agement of  our  public  affairs,  we  flatter  ourselves  that  the  adverse 
circumstances  under  which  we  so  long  labored  in  the  land  of  our 
birth,  and  the  integrity  of  our  motives,  will  plead  our  excuse  for 
our  want  of  abilities ;  and  that,  in  the  candor  and  charity  of  an 
impartial  world,  our  well-meant,  however  feeble,  efforts  will  find 


156  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION  SOCIETY. 

an  apology.  I  am  also  persuaded  that  no  magnanimous  nation 
will  seek  to  abridge  our  rights,  or  withhold  from  the  Republic  those 
cirilities  and  "  that  comity  which  marks  the  friendly  intercourse  be- 
tween civilized  and  independent  communities,"  in  consequence  of 
our  weakness  and  present  poverty. 

And,  with  respect  to  the  independence  of  Liberia,  I  know  it  to 
be  a  favorable  object  with  many  great  and  good  men,  both  in  Eu- 
rope and  the  United  States,  and,  I  have  great  reason  to  believe, 
with  several  European  powers,  who  entertain  commercial  views. 

3d.  We  are  gravely  accused,  fellow-citizens,  of  acting  prema- 
turely, and  without  due  reflection,  in  this  whole  matter,  with 
regard  to  the  probable  consequences  of  taking  into  our  own  hands 
the  whole  work  of  self-government,  including  the  management  of 
our  foreign  relations  ;  and  I  have  also  heard  it  remarked,  that  fears 
are  entertained  by  some  persons  abroad,  that  the  citizens  of  Libe- 
ria, when  thrown  upon  their  own  resources,  will  probably  not  sus- 
tain the  government,  and  that  anarchy  and  its  attendant  ruins  Avill 
be  the  result  of  their  independence. 

The  impression,  however,  that  the  people  have  acted  premature- 
ly, and  without  regard  to  consequences,  is  evidently  erroneous. 
And,  to  judge  of  the  future  from  the  past,  I  have  no  hesitancy  in 
asserting  that  the  fears  entertained  respecting  the  disposition  of 
the  people  here  to  insubordination  are  totally  groundless.  No 
people,  perhaps,  have  exhibited  greater  devotion  for  their  govern- 
ment and  institutions,  and  have  submitted  more  readily  to  lawful 
authority,  than  the  citizens  of  Liberia ;  which,  indeed,  must  be  ob- 
vious to  every  one  at  all  familiar  with  the  past  history  of  these  col- 
onies. But  to  return.  It  is  well  known  that  the  object  of  inde- 
pendence has  been  agitating  the  public  mind  for  more  than  five 
years,  and  that  every  consideration  for  and  against  it,  has  been 
warmly  discussed. 

I  am  sensible,  however,  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  for  men  to  be 
warm  in  a  cause,  and  yet  not  know  why  it  is  they  are  warm.  In 
sUch  cases,  the  passion  of  one  is  lighted   up  by  the  passioli  of 


ADDRESS  OF  PRESIDENT  ROBERTS.         157 

another,  and  the  whole  circle  is  in  a  flame ;  but  the  mind  in  the 
mean  time  is  like  a  dark  chamber,  without  a  single  ray  of  light 
to  pervade  it.  In  this  case  it  will  happen,  that,  when  the  hasty 
passion  shall  have  spent  its  force,  all  virtuous  and  patriotic  resolu- 
tions which  it  kindled  up  will  also  die  with  it ;  as,  in  the  great  af- 
fairs of  religion,  a  strong  flash  of  ideas  on  the  fancy  may  excite  a 
combustion  of  devotion ;  but,  unless  the  reason  is  engaged  to  feed 
and  supply  the  burning,  it  will  die  away,  and  neither  light  nor  heat 
will  be  found  remaining  in  it. 

It  was  the  commendation  of  a  certain  people  of  whom  we  read 
in  the  Bible,  that,  when  the  gospel  was  first  preached  to  them, 
"  they  searched  the  Scriptures  daily,  whether  these  things  were  so." 
Those  who,  without  examination,  had  received  it,  without  exami- 
nation might  also  give  it  up :  but  this  more  "  honorable  "  people 
had  maturely  weighed  the  doctrine ;  and,  embracing  it,  they  gave 
ground  to  believe,  that  as  they  were  rational,  so  they  would  be 
persevering  Christians. 

The  political  concerns  of  Liberia  have  been  equally  the  objects 
of  attentive  consideration.  And  it  aSbrds  the  most  pleasing  re- 
flection, that  the  people  of  these  colonies  have  not  acted  rashly  or 
unadvisedly  with  respect  to  their  independence,  but  all  the  meas- 
ures which  have  been  adopted  in  regard  to  it  are  strongly  marked 
with  great  caution  and  matured  deliberation,  and  will  bear  the 
strictest  scrutiny  of  reason  and  conscience. 

The  time  has  been,  I  admit,  when  men,  without  being  charge- 
able with  timidity,  or  with  a  disposition  to  undervalue  the  capaci- 
ties of  the  African  race,  might  have  doubted  the  success  of  the 
colonization  enterprise  and  the  feasibility  of  establishing  an  inde- 
pendent Christian  State  on  this  coast,  composed  of  and  conducted 
wholly  by  colored  men ;  but,  fellow-citizens,  that  time  has  passed. 
The  American  Colonization  Society  has  redeemed  its  pledge,  and  I 
believe  in  my  soul,  that  the  permanency  of  the  government  of  the 
Republic  of  Liberia  is  now  fixed  upon  as  firm  a  basis  as  human  wis- 
dom is  capable  of  devising.     Nor  is  there  any  reason  to  aj)prehend 


158  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

that  the  divine  Disposer  of  human  events,  after  liaving  separated 
us  from  the  liouse  of  bondage,  and  led  us  safely  through  so  many 
dangers,  towards  the  land  of  liberty  and  promise,  will  leave  the 
work  of  our  political  redemption  and  consequent  happiness  unfin- 
ished, and  either  2)ermit  us  to  perish  in  a  wilderness  of  difficul- 
ties, or  suffer  us  to  be  carried  back  in  chains  to  that  country  of 
prejudices,  from  whose  oppression  he  has  mercifully  delivered  us 
with  his  outstretched  arm. 

And,  fellow-citizens,  it  must  afford  the  most  heartfelt  pleasure 
and  satisfaction  to  every  friend  of  Liberia,  and  real  lover  of  liberty 
in  general,  to  observe  by  what  a  fortunate  train  of  circumstances 
and  incidents  the  people  of  these  colonies  have  arrived  at  absolute 
freedom  and  independence.  When  we  look  abroad  and  see  by 
what  slow  and  painful  steps,  marked  with  blood  and  ills  of  every 
kind,  other  States  of  the  world  have  advanced  to  liberty  and  inde- 
pendence, we  cannot  but  admire  and  praise  that  all-gracious  Provi- 
dence, who,  by  his  unerring  ways,  has,  with  so  few  sufferings  on 
our  part  compared  with  other  States,  led  us  to  this  happy  stage  in 
our  progress  toward  those  great  and  important  objects.  And  that 
it  is  the  will  of  Heaven  that  mankind  should  be  free,  is  clearly  evi- 
denced by  the  wealth,  vigor,  virtue,  and  consequent  happiness  of 
all  free  States.  But  the  idea  that  Providence  will  establish  such 
governments  as  he  shall  deem  most  fit  for  his  creatures,  and  will 
give  them  wealth,  influence,  and  happiness  without  their  efforts,  is 
palpably  absurd.  In  short,  God's  moral  government  of  the  earth 
is  always  performed  by  the  inteiwention  of  second  causes.  There- 
fore, fellow-citizens,  while  with  pious  gratitude  we  survey  the  fre- 
quent interpositions  of  Heaven  in  our  behalf,  we  ought  to  remem- 
ber, that  as  the  disbelief  of  an  overruling  Providence  is  atheism, 
so  an  absolute  confidence  of  having  our  government  relieved  from 
every  embarrassment,  and  its  citizens  made  respectable  and  happy 
by  the  immediate  hand  of  God,  without  our  own  exertions,  is  the 
most  culpable  presumption.  Nor  have  we  any  reason  to  expect 
that  he  will  miraculously  make  Liberia  a  paradise,  and  deliver  us 


ADDEESS  OF  PEESIDENT  ROBEETS.        159 

in  a  moment  of  time  from  all  the  ills  and  inconveniences  conse- 
quent upon  the  peculiar  circumstances  under  which  we  are  placed, 
merely  to  convince  us  that  he  favors  our  cause  and  government. 

Sufficient  notifications  of  his  will  are  always  given,  and  those 
who  will  not  then  believe,  neither  would  they  believe  though 
one  should  rise  from  the  dead  to  inform  them.  Who  can  trace  the 
progress  of  these  colonies,  and  mark  the  incidents  of  the  wars  in 
which  they  have  been  engaged,  without  seeing  evident  tokens  of 
providential  favor  ?  Let  us,  therefore,  inflexibly  persevere  in  ex- 
erting our  most  strenuous  efforts  in  an  humble  and  rational  de- 
pendence on  the  great  Governor  of  all  the  world,  and  we  have  the 
fairest  prospects  of  surmounting  all  the  difliculties  which  may  be 
thrown  in  our  way.  And  that  we  may  expect,  and  that  we  shall 
have,  difficulties,  sore  difficulties,  yet  to  contend  against  in  our  pro- 
gress to  maturity,  is  certain.  And  as  the  political  happiness  or 
wretchedness  of  ourselves  and  our  children,  and  of  generations  yet 
unborn,  is  in  our  hands,  nay  more,  the  redemption  of  Africa  from 
the  deep  degradation,  superstition,  and  idolatry  in  which  she  has 
so  long  been  involved,  it  becomes  us  to  lay  our  shoulders  to  the 
wheel,  and  manfully  resist  every  obstacle  which  may  oppose  our 
progress  in  the  great  work  which  lies  before  us.  The  gospel,  fel- 
low-citizens, is  yet  to  be  preached  to  vast  numbers  inhabiting  this 
dark  continent;  and  I  have  the  highest  reason  to  believe  that  it 
was  one  of  the  great  objects  of  the  Almighty  in  establishing  these 
colonies,  that  they  might  be  the  means  of  introducing  civilization 
and  religion  among  the  barbarous  nations  of  this  country.  And  to 
what  work  more  noble  could  our  powers  be  applied,  than  that  of 
bringing  up  from  darkness,  debasement,  and  misery,  our  fellow-men, 
and  shedding  abroad  over  them  the  light  of  science  and  Christi- 
anity ?  The  means  of  doing  so,  fellow-citizens,  are  in  our  reach, 
and  if  we  neglect,  or  do  not  make  use  of  them,  what  excuse 
shall  we  make  to  our  Creator  and  final  Judge  ?  This  is  a  question 
of  the  deepest  concern  to  us  all,  and  which,  in  my  opinion,  will 
materially  aflect  our  happiness  in  the  world  to  come.     And  surely, 


160  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION  SOCIETY. 

if  it  ever  has  been  incumbent  on  the  people  of  Liberia  to  know 
truth  and  to  follow  it,  it  is  now.  Rouse,  therefore,  fellow-citizens, 
and  do  your  duty  like  men  ;  and  be  persuaded  that  Divine  Provi- 
dence, as  heretofore,  will  continue  to  bless  all  your  virtuous  efforts. 

But  if  there  be  any  among  us  dead  to  all  sense  of  honor  and 
love  of  their  country;  if  deaf  to  all  the  calls  of  liberty,  virtue,  and 
religion ;  if  forgetful  of  the  benevolence  and  magnanimity  of  those 
who  have  procured  this  asylum  for  them,  and  the  future  happiness 
of  their  children  ;  if  neither  the  examples  nor  the  success  of  other 
nations,  the  dictates  of  reason  and  of  nature,  or  the  great  duties 
they  owe  to  their  God,  themselves,  and  their  posterity,  have  any 
effect  upon  them ;  if  neither  the  injuries  they  received  in  the  land 
whence  they  came,  the  prize  they  are  contending  for,  the  future 
blessings  or  curses  of  their  children,  the  applause  or  reproach  of 
all  mankind,  the  approbation  or  displeasure  of  the  great  Judge, 
or  the  happiness  or  misery  consequent  upon  their  conduct  in  this 
and  a  future  state,  can  move  them,  —  then  let  them  be  assured  that 
they  deserve  to  be  slaves,  and  are  entitled  to  nothing  but  anguish 
and  tribulation.  Let  them  banish  forever  from  their  minds  the 
hojie  of  obtaining  that  freedom,  reputation,  and  happiness,  which, 
as  men,  they  are  entitled  to.  Let  them  forget  every  duty,  human 
and  divine,  remember  not  that  they  have  children,  and  beware 
how  they  call  to  mind  the  justice  of  the  Supreme  Being.  Let  them 
return  into  slavery,  and  hug  their  chains,  and  be  a  reproach  and 
a  bj^-word  among  all  nations. 

But  I  am  persuaded,  fellow-citizens,  that  we  have  none  such 
among  us ;  that  every  citizen  will  do  his  duty,  and  exert  himself 
to  the  utmost  of  his  abilities  to  sustain  the  honor  of  his  country, 
promote  her  interests,  and  the  interests  of  his  fellow-citizens,  and 
to  hand  down  unimpaired  to  future  generations  the  freedom  and 
independence  we  this  day  enjoy. 

As  to  myself,  fellow-citizens,  I  assure  you  I  never  have  been  indif- 
ferent to  what  concerns  the  interests  of  Liberia,  my  adopted  coun- 
try ;  and  I  am  sensible  of  no  passion  which  could  seduce  me  know- 


ADDRESS    OF   PRESIDENT  ROBERTS.  161 

iiigly  from  the  path  of  duty  or  of  justice.  The  weakness  of  human 
nature,  and  the  Timits  of  my  own  understanding,  may,  no  doubt  will, 
produce  errors  of  judgment.  I  repeat,  therefore,  that  I  shall  need 
all  the  indulgence  I  have  hitherto  received  at  your  hands.  I  shall 
need,  too,  the  lavor  of  that  Being  in  whose  hands  we  are,  who  has 
led  us,  as  Israel  of  old,  from  our  native  land,  and  planted  us  in  a 
country  abounding  in  all  the  necessaries  and  comforts  of  life;  who 
has  covered  our  infancy  with  his  Providence,  and  to  whose  good- 
ness I  ask  you  to  join  with  me  in  supplications,  that  he  will  so  en- 
lighten the  minds  of  your  servants,  guide  their  councils,  and  pros- 
per their  measures,  that  whatsoever  they  do  shall  result  in  your 
good,  and  shall  secure  to  you  the  peace,  friendship,  and  approba- 
tion of  all  nations. 


21 


ANNUAL   MESSAGE    OF   PRESIDENT    WARNER, 

DECEMBER,    1866. 


Felloio-Citizcna  of  the  Senate  and  Houxe  of  Representatives  of  the  Republic 
of  Liberia : 

The  expiration  of  another  twelve  months  has  brouglit  aronncl 
the  period  when  it  becomes  my  duty  to  lay  before  you  a  statement 
of  the  affairs  of  the  Republic,  and  to  recommend  such  measures 
as  appear  to  me  calculated  to  enhance  the  welfare  of  the  nation. 
In  discharging  this  duty,  I  have  to  invite  you  to  unite  with  me  in 
rendering  unfeigned  thanks  to  our  heavenly  Father  for  the  blessings 
with  which  the  past  year  has  been  crowned.  The  immunity  we 
have  enjoyed  from  those  epidemic  diseases  which  have  been  the 
scourge  of  other  lands,  the  bountiful  harvests  that  have  blessed  the 
labors  of  the  husbandman,  the  peace  that  has  prevailed,  to  a  great 
extent,  within  our  borders,  are  unmistakable  marks  of  divine  f:ivor  ; 
and  for  these  mercies  we  should  show  ourselves  grateful  by  pursu- 
ing such  a  course  of  conduct  as  will  meet  the  approbation  of  the 
Almighty. 

Foreign  Relations.  —  Our  relations  with  foreign  nations  are 
satisfactory,  with  the  exception  of  the  North-western  boundary 
dispute.  This  question,  which  has  been  pending  for  the  last  five 
years  without  having  yet  come  to  a  solution,  must  be  settled  before 
it  can  be  determined  which  of  the  two  governments  —  this  or  Her 
Britannic  Majesty's  —  is  responsible  for  the  numerous  atrocities 
which  have  been  committed,  as  well  as  for  those  which  are  daily 
being  committed,  by  the  natives  in  the  territories  in  dispute.  The 
predatory  wars  waged  by  the  natives  in  those  parts  of  the  country 


ANNUAL  MESSAGE   OF   PRESIDENT  WARNER.  163 

against  the  peaceful  natives  living  in  close  proximity  to  our  settle- 
ment at  Grand  Cape  Mount,  and  to  the  great  detriment  of  that 
settlement ;  the  vast  amount  of  merchandise  introduced  from  ad- 
joining provinces  without  bringing  a  revenue  to  this  Government ; 
the  open  rebellion  of  the  natives,  instigated  by  unprincipled  traders 
living  within  the  territories  claimed  by  this  Government,  —  are 
evils  which  are  likely  to  continue  for  a  long  time,  and  to  affect 
most  injuriously  the  interests  of  the  Republic,  unless  this  question 
of  boundary  be  at  once  set  at  rest. 

The  finances  of  the  Government  have  not  been  in  such  a  condi- 
tion as  to  allow  us  to  occupy  those  windward  territories  with 
civilized  settlements,  or  we  might  long  since  have  availed  ourselves 
of  the  surest  method  of  confirming  the  claim  which  we  have  right- 
fully acquired  by  fair  and  honorable  purchase. 

On  this  subject,  the  Government  has  renewed  the  correspondence 
which  two  years  ago  was  broken  off  by  the  brief  reply  of  the 
British  Government  to  the  last  requisition  of  the  Liberian  Govei'n- 
ment.  And  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  magnanimity  and  keen  sense 
of  justice  of  the  British  Government  will  allow  the  question  to  be 
put  at  rest  speedily  and  amicably. 

I  have  appointed  Monsieur  L.  Carrance  Consul  for  this  Repub- 
lic, at  Bordeaux,  in  France.  I  have  also  granted  a  commission  to 
Senor  Senmartity  Brogues  as  Liberian  Consul  at  Barcelona  and 
Madrid,  in  Spain.  I  felt  particular  gratification  in  making  this 
latter  appointment ;  and,  in  a  despatch  from  the  Spanish  Minister 
for  Foreign  Affairs,  we  are  assured  that  it  was  hailed  by  Her  Cath- 
olic Majesty's  Government  as  the  forerunner  of  the  establishment 
of  friendly  and  commercial  relations  between  the  two  countries. 

During  the  year,  I  have  granted  my  exequatur  to  Samuel  F. 
McGill,  Esq.,  Consul  for  Sweden  and  Norway;  also  to  C.  T.  W. 
F.  Jantzen,  Esq.,  Consul  for  Hamburg,  at  Monrovia. 

It  is  with  feelings  of  inexpressible  sorrow  that  I  have  to  announce 
to  you  the  death  of  Abraham  Hanson,  Esq.,  late  United-States 
Commissioner  and  Consul-General,  which  occurred  in  the  month  of 


164  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

July  last,  at  the  legation  in  Monrovia.  The  dcatli  of  Mr.  Hanson 
cast  a  deep  gloom  over  our  coniuiunity.  Never  has  a  foreign  func- 
tionary stood  higher  in  the  estimation  of  a  people  than  Mr.  Hanson 
did  in  that  of  the  Liberian,  nor  succeeded  in  establishing  a  better 
understanding  than  that  which  subsisted  between  Mr.  Hanson  and 
the  Government  to  which  he  was  accredited.  As  a  gentleman  of 
Christian  cliaracter,  of  kind  and  benevolent  disposition,  endearing 
himself  to  all  who  knew  him,  and  as  a  liberal-minded  public  func- 
tionary, Mr.  Hanson  justly  merited  every  mark  of  respect  shown 
to  him;  and  his  memory  claims  a  prominent  place  in  the  aifections 
of  this  people. 

To  fill  the  office  made  vacant  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Hanson,  the 
Governmeiit  of  the  United  States  has  appointed  William  A.  John- 
son, Esq.,  Vice-Consul  General  at  Monrovia ;  and  I  have  accorded 
to  him  my  exequatur. 

The  Government  has  been  invited  to  participate  in  the  Interna- 
tional Exhibition  to  be  held  in  Paris  during  the  next  year.  It  will 
be  to  me  a  matter  of  profound  regret  if,  from  any  consideration, 
the  Government  should  be  compelled  to  decline  the  friendly  offer. 
Such  exhibitions  tend,  to  a  great  extent,  to  bring  into  notice  the 
products  and  commodities  of  different  countries ;  and  considering 
the  limited  commerce  of  Liberia,  notwithstanding  her  vast  but 
undeveloped  resources,  we  should  put  forth  a  vigorous  effort  to 
improve  the  opportunity  now  afforded  the  country  of  exhibiting  to 
the  world  its  rich  products. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1864,  we  made  application  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  for  the  purchase  of  a  gunboat.  The 
application  was  generously  responded  to,  and  the  sale  of  a  vessel 
on  very  liberal  terms  was  provided  for. 

A  treaty  of  amity  and  commerce  has  recently  been  negotiated 
between  this  Republic  and  the  Empire  of  Austria,  which  I  will 
lay  before  the  Senate  for  ratification. 

The  Mails.  —  The  postal  convention  between  this  govern- 
ment and  that  of  Great  Britain  continues  in  operation.     Recent 


ANNUAL   MESSAGE   OF  PRESIDENT  WARNER.  165 

arrangements  provide  that  the  steamers  bearing  the  montlily  mails 
shall  touch  at  Monrovia  as  well  as  Cape  Palmas.  This  gives  us 
increased  facilities  for  communicating  with  foreign  countries.  But 
in  order  to  have  regular  intercourse  between  our  settlements,  and 
to  prevent  those  serious  delays  which  too  often  occur  in  the  opera- 
tions of  tlie  Government  from  want  of  mail  carriage,  it  is  necessary 
that  you  provide  some  sure  and  economical  means  for  conveying 
the  mails  to  and  fi'om  the  different  settlements  along  the  coast. 

InterxatiojStal  Hospital.  —  A  proposition  has  been  made  to 
this  government,  by  a  wealthy  and  influential  gentleman  in  France, 
to  establish  in  this  city,  under  the  patronage  of  our  Government, 
an  International  Hospital.  He  petitions  for  a  grant  of  land  suitable 
for  this  benevolent  object,  and  a  small  appropriation  to  assist  iu  the 
enterprise.  I  hope  you  will  take  this  subject  under  favorable  con- 
sideration. The  seaport  towns  all  over  the  civilized  world  could 
not  give  a  stronger  expression  of  their  appreciation  of  the  severe 
toil  and  abundant  services  of  seamen,  than  by  erecting  buildings  in 
their  respective  localities  for  their  accommodation  when  distressed 
either  from  shipwreck,  sickness,  or  other  causes.  Travellers,  also, 
to  this  coast,  would  experience  an  inexpressible  feeling  of  relief 
from  a  knowledge  that  such  an  asylum  existed  for  their  reception 
when  assailed  or  wasted  by  the  diseases  of  the  climate. 

The  Public  Revenue.  —  It  is  necessary  that  vigorous  meas- 
ures be  adopted  and  executed  in  order  to  enhance  the  public 
revenue.  It  is  true  there  is  in  the  paper  currency  a  marked  im- 
provement, which  tends  greatly  to  the  advantage  of  the  citizens 
generally;  but  it  cannot  be  of  material  benefit  to  the  Government, 
unless  tlie  receipts  of  the  treasury  constantly  exceed,  or  at  least 
equal,  the  expenditures  it  may  be  necessary  to  make  to  carry  on  the 
Government.  While  I  admit  that  all  unnecessary  expenditures 
should  be  abolished,  I  am  not  inclined  to  favor  the  opinion  that 
the  expenses  generally  of  the  Government  are  a  waste,  because 
they  make  no  return  in  kind  for  the  capital  invested.  The  citizens 
need  protection  in  the  prosecution  of  their  various  interests;  and 


106  AMERICAN    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY. 

thiis  tlie  Govt'rnineiit  sliouUl  not  only  huve  tlic  ability  to  give,  but 
its  ability  should  be  so  fully  known  and  seen  as  to  render  it  unne- 
cessary, except  in  extraordinary  cases,  to  j)ut  it  to  the  test. 

The  Native  Tribes.  —  I  have  for  a  long  time  thought  that  the 
native  tribes  residing  within  the  near  jurisdiction  of  the  Republic 
could  be  brought  into  closer  relationship  with  us,  by  being  required 
to  contribute  to  the  support  of  the  Government,  and  by  being 
allowed  such  a  representation  in  our  national  council  as  will  easily 
commend  itself  to  their  comprehension.  Such  a  measure  inaugu- 
rated among  these,  will  induce  those  tribes  more  remote  to  seek  to 
sustain  similar  relations  to  us.  No  desire  to  exterminate  these 
people  and  aggrandize  their  teri'itory  brouglit  us  here.  They  are 
our  brethren,  deluded  though  they  often  appear ;  and  our  consti- 
tution expressly  declares  that  their  improvement  is  a  cherished 
object  of  this  Government.  The  Government,  then,  being  for 
mutual  advantage,  is  one  that  calls  for  mutual  support.  The 
aborigines  should  assist  in  the  great  work  we  have  to  perform. 
Like  the  civilized  population,  they  should  give  something  in 
return  for  the  protection  and  redress  which  our  courts  always, 
and  our  armies  often,  are  required  to  render  them.  And  I 
doubt  not  that  many  of  them  are  now  willing  to  assist;  and 
when  they  shall  have  been  convinced  that  the  civilization  of  which 
the  Republic  is  the  nucleus  must  spread  far  and  wide  over  this 
continent,  enlightening  and  refining  its  inhabitants,  and  raising 
them  in  the  scale  of  being ;  that  it  is  a  work  designed  by  the 
Almighty  himself,  and  cannot  be  stayed,  —  I  am  sure  they  will  be- 
come willing  coadjutors. 

I  therefore  recommend  that  the  discretionary  powers  given  to 
the  Executive  in  the  fifth  section  of  an  act  regulating  taxes  and 
licenses,  passed  by  the  Legislature  in  1858,  to  require  our  aborigi- 
nes to  contribute  to  the  support  of  the  Government  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  he  shall  deem  best,  be  made  a  positive  law,  to  be  enforced  in 
common  Avitli  other  revenue  laws.  There  are  in  these  forests  men 
of  royal  blooil,  and  of  minds  susceptible  of  the  most  exalted  ideas 


ANNUAL  MESSAGE   OP   PRESIDENT   WARNER.  167 

of  systematic  and  well-balanceel  governineiit;  and,  by  a  proper 
appreciation  of  them,  they  could  be  made  to  sustain  to  us  a  much 
nearer  and  dearer  relation  than  that  of  being  mere  contributors  to 
our  treasury. 

Passports.  —  I  have  also  to  suggest  that,  for  each  passport 
issued  by  the  Secretary  of  State,  a  fee  of  two  dollars  be  charged, 
to  go  into  tlie  treasury;  that  said  passport  be  issued  only  on  the 
presentation  of  the  treasurer's  receipt  acknowledging  the  payment 
of  the  fee ;  and  that  the  receipts  be  passed  quarterly  from  the 
Department  of  StAte  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

Our  passport  law  needs  other  important  amendments.  At  all 
times  and  under  all  circumstances,  the  present  law  allows  persons 
of  all  characters  to  obtain  passports,  simply  by  giving  ten  days' 
notice  of  their  intention  to  leave  the  Republic,  and  paying  a  fee  of 
fifty  cents  for  each  passport.  Taking  advantage  of  these  easy  cir- 
cumstances under  which  they  can  leave  the  Republic,  many  of  a 
wilfully  thriftless  class,  whether  long  in  the  country  or  recent 
comers  to  it,  go  to  foreign  countries  only  to  find  the  obstacles  to 
be  surmounted  by  indolent  persons  more  numerous  than  they  are 
in  Liberia.  In  a  short  time,  they  become  reduced  to  extremities  in 
the  communities  they  enter.  Did  they  break  off  their  allegiance 
to  the  Government  of  this  Republic,  we  should  be  saved  all  further 
concern  about  them ;  but,  to  avoid  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of 
citizens  of  the  new  State  to  which  they  may  have  gone,  they  retain 
their  passports  and  their  allegiance,  and  in  this  way,  to  say  the  least 
of  it,  occasion  this  Government  considerable  anxiety,  as  it  is  often 
called  upon  to  relieve  its  destitute  citizens. 

Patents. — The  patent  law  in  force  in  the  Republic  should  be 
so  amended,  as  to  require  every  person  filing  a  caveat  in  the  patent- 
oftice  to  pay  a  small  fee  for  the  privilege  thus  secured  to  him. 

Pay  of  Members.  —  I  am  fully  aware  that  most  men  in  the 
public  service  are  already  required  to  make  some  sacrifice.  Still 
they  should  always  set  examples  of  patriotism,  in  order  that  the 
citizens  generally  may  be  induced  to  second  their  efforts  the  more 


168  AJMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

cheerfully.  In  this  connection,  I  liave  again  to  propose  to  you  a 
recoinincudation  made  during  the  session  of  'G4, —  that  each 
member  of  the  legislature  receive  for  liis  services  a  salary,  not  to 
exceed  the  amount  to  which  he  wonld  he  entitled  for  a  session  of 
a  moderate  length,  at  a  reasonable  ]»ay  per  diem. 

Licensk-Feks. —  I  have  often  considered,  that,  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  atfairs  of  a  nation,  justice  requires  that  burdens 
imposed  should  be  borne  equally  by  the  citizens,  or  in  proportion 
to  each  man's  ability.  In  our  system  of  licenses,  this  principle 
does  not  operate.  There  are  only  three  classes  of  citizens — mer- 
chants, lawyers,  and  auctioneers  —  who  pay  a  license-fee  for  being 
allowed  to  follow  their  various  vocations.  It  is  not  clear  to  my 
mind,  upon  what  principle  certain  classes  of  oiu-  citizens  are  taxed 
for  procuring  a  livelihood,  while  others  are  exempt.  I  have  on  a 
previous  occasion  spoken  of  the  propriety  of  requiring  persons 
following  other  trades  or  2:)rofessions  to  pay  a  reasonable  license- 
fee,  and  I  would  again  bring  this  subject  to  your  notice. 

Manufactuee  of  Ardent  Spirits.  —  There  is  pursued  in  the 
country  an  occupation  which,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  brings  no  good 
either  to  proprietors  or  customers.  I  refer  to  the  distilling  of 
ardent  spirits.  We  are,  it  is  true,  under  a  free  government,  with  a 
liberal  constitution ;  and  while  total  prohibition  may  appear  to 
some  as  an  invasion  of  the  rights  of  citizens,  yet  I  cannot  see  u])on 
what  principle  of  political  economy  or  justice  the  trade  in  distilling 
ardent  spirits  has  been  encumbered  with  the  lightest  tax,  while 
wholesome,  unobjectionable  occupations  pay  to  support  a  Govern- 
ment which  knows  that  its  people  are  demoralized,  and  shuts  its 
eyes  ui)on  the  fact.  Each  still  erected  or  in  operation  in  the 
Republic  should  pay  a  tax  propoitioned  to  the  capacity  in  gallons 
of  the  said  still. 

It  would  be  very  far  from  fulfilling  our  mission  to  this  country, 
that  we  continue  to  demoralize  the  natives  by  the  abundant  sale  to 
them  of  ardent  spirits.  It  seems  clear  to  my  mind  that,  as  in  the 
case  of  individuals,  God  holds  men  responsible  for  thus  putting 


ANNUAL  MESSAGE   OF   PRESIDENT   "WARNER.  169 

into  the  hands  of  their  fellows  materials  capable  of  so  much  harm, 
inciting  them  to  rapine,  murder,  and  war.  So  in  our  case,  as  a 
nation,  God  will  not  hold  us  guiltless  of  this  sin  which  we  have  been 
committing  to  the  destruction  of  our  heathen  brethren,  as  well  as 
ourselves ;  and  surely  their  blood  will  he  require  at  our  hands,  and 
will  hold  us  chargeable  for  the  evils  which  these  tribes  commit 
under  the  influence  of  this  destructive  drink. 

The  manufacture  of  ardent  spirits,  and  the  traffic  in  them  by 
other  civilized  countries,  should  not  be  argued  by  us  in  justification 
of  the  Republic  of  Liberia  engaging  in  the  same  thing.  The 
prosperity  of  those  other  countries  might  have  been  much  more 
abundant  and  abiding,  and  there  would  have  been  committed  in 
them  a  less  number  of  murders,  had  there  been  in  them  a  total 
absence  of  ardent  spirits.  And  may  not  the  secret  of  the  slow 
progress  we  are  making,  compared  with  the  great  advantages  we 
have  of  a  fertile  soil,  a  uniformly  favorable  climate,  and  the  enor- 
mous percentage  of  the  yield  of  our  crops,  and  the  evanescent 
character  which  the  accumulations  we  make  from  time  to  time 
assume,  be  attributed  to  the  sin  of  manufacturing  and  selling  rum  ? 
Ardent  spirits  had  much  to  do  with  the  kidnapping  and  forcing  of 
our  forefathers  from  their  ancient  homes  to  a  laud  of  slavery.  It 
caused  the  opening  in  that  laud  of  many  premature  graves,  which 
closed  over  the  mangled  bodies  and  broken  hearts  of  the  victims 
of  American  bondage.  We  may  not  hope  to  escape  similar  mis- 
fortunes and  evils,  if  we  persist  in  manuflicturing  and  selling  ardent 
spirits. 

Besides  this,  the  ease  with  which  these  natives  procui'e  fire-arms 
and  ammunition  increases  the  hostilities,  and  protracts  those  bloody 
struggles  in  which  they  engage,  but  which  is  our  duty  to  check. 
The  Government  of  Liberia  is  the  guardian  of  the  tribes  which 
have  placed  themselves  under  its  jurisdiction ;  and  we  should 
advise,  admonish,  and  gently  coerce  them  into  that  subjection  to 
law  and  order  which  they  sometimes  appear  reluctant  to  yield. 
And  when   our  civilized  communities  so  far  forget  their  duty  to 


170  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION  SOCIETY. 

these  heathen  as  to  place  in  their  hands  the  instruments  of  death, 
encouraging  tlicm  to  lawless  and  murderous  acts,  they,  too,  should 
be  restrained  by  law.  I  have,  therefore,  to  recommend  the  placing 
of  a  high  duty  on  the  importation  of  fire-arras,  powder,  and  ardent 
spirits.  These  articles  are  by  no  means  essential  to  the  traffic  of 
the  country. 

Intkrcourse  w  ith  the  Natives.  —  There  is  no  subject  which 
more  affects  the  interests  of  this  Government  than  that  of  the  tribes 
by  whom  we  are  surrounded.  It  must  be  admitted  that  the  rela- 
tion we  sustain  to  these  aborigines  is  very  different  from  that  held 
by  any  other  civilized  people  to  the  natives  of  a  barbarous  country 
which  they  have  entered.  We  often  find  the  circumstances  attend- 
ant on  this  relation  exceedingly  embarrassing.  These  people  are 
our  brethren,  and  yet  we  sometimes  find  them  in  antagonism  to 
us.  And  then,  again,  in  their  own  case,  another  and  very  import- 
ant difficulty  arises  from  the  fact,  that  there  are  chiefs  under  our 
jurisdiction  who  have  laws,  which  we  find  it  difficult  to  abrogate 
at  once,  conflicting  with  our  statutes;  thus  keeping  their  subjects 
in  constant  dread  of  violating  our  laws  on  the  one  hand,  and  incur- 
ring the  penalty  of  their  own  code  on  the  other. 

I  have  already  referred  to  the  propriety  of  making  these  tribes 
understand  the  necessity  of  contributing  to  the  maintenance  of 
this  government ;  and  I  have  now  to  suggest  that  there  be  some 
restriction  placed  on  the  intercourse  of  the  civilized  settlers  with 
the  natives,  defining  how  far  that  intercourse  shall  extend,  and 
when  and  for  what  purposes  it  shall  be  allowed.  Many  disturb- 
ances, and  during  the  present  year  sevei'al  of  a  serious  nature,  have 
arisen,  resulting  fi-om  that  unlimited  intercourse  with  the  natives, 
which  has  been  continued  for  years  by  persons  ostensibly  engaged 
in  trade,  who  have  gone  among  these  tribes  to  the  demoralizing  of 
themselves  and  to  the  great  disprofit  of  the  natives. 

I  am  of  opinion  that  persons  going  among  the  aborigines  to 
reside  should  be  made  to  show  that  they  are  engaged  in  some 
lawful  and  necessary  enterpi-ise,  and  to  give  bond  and  security,  to 


ANNUAL  MESSAGE   OP  PRESIDENT  WARNER.  171 

be  renewed  from  time  to  time,  for  their  conforming  to  law  and 
conserving  the  public  peace;  and,  whenever  it  might  appear  that 
such  persons  are  no  longer  prosecuting  lawful  business  with  the 
natives,  they  should  be  required  to  withdraw  from  them;  and,  for 
being  allowed  to  prosecute  trade  among  the  natives,  they  should 
obtain  a  license,  for  which  they  ought  to  pay  a  tax  proportionate 
to  the  amount  of  capital  invested  in  such  native  trade. 

Prince  Boter.  —  I  have  to  inform  you  that  in  the  month  of 
June  last,  Prince  Boyer,  of  Tradetown,  seized  and  detained  the 
Hon.  J.  M.  Horace,  at  said  place.  By  this  act  of  Boyer,  the  Gov- 
ernment was  placed  in  a  serious  dilemma.  To  have  attempted  to 
force  the  exasperated  chief  while  Mr.  Horace  was  in  his  power, 
would  have  endangered  the  life  of  the  latter;  and  the  conditions 
proposed  by  Boyer,  on  which  his  prisoner  could  be  released,  were 
such  as  the  Government  could  not  accede  to  and  maintain  its  dig- 
nity, and  preserve  the  majesty  of  our  laws. 

The  Government  sent  a  note  to  Boyer,  requiring  him  to  set  Mr. 
Horace  at  liberty.  Mr.  Horace  has  been  released.  Boyer,  how- 
ever, gives  the  following  ground  of  grievance :  1st,  That  an  annu- 
ity promised  him  in  1849,  and  fixed  by  law,  has  not  been  regularly 
paid  him ;  2d,  That,  after  he  had  become  reconciled  to  the  port-of- 
entry  law,  the  domestic  trade  was  interdicted  to  him,  simply  because 
it  was  rumored  by  his  native  enemies  that  he  was  contemplating  a 
descent  upon  the  settlements  in  Grand  Bassa  County;  3d,  That 
his  confessions  of  repentance  for  the  wrong  he  had  done,  by  refusing, 
when  commanded  to  do  so,  to  surrender  the  goods  of  foreigners 
detained  by  him,  Avere  spurned  by  the  Legislature ;  4th,  That  his 
officers,  while  on  a  peaceful  mission  to  the  Government,  were  de- 
tained at  Grand  Bassa,  and  stripped  of  their  insignia ;  5th,  That  a 
present  which  he  sent  to  the  Government  as  an  assurance  of  peace, 
was  seized  at  Bassa ;  6th,  That  the  passage  of  the  law  interdicting 
the  domestic  trade  seemed  to  be  a  last  resort  to  crush  him ;  7th, 
That  Senator  Horace,  by  coming  within  the  territory  interdicted, 
violated  the  law  which  he  himself  assisted   to  make,  and   tliat  he. 


172  AMERICAN  COLONIZATION  SOCIETY. 

Boyer,  under  the  circumstances,  could  not  but  act  according  to  the 
natural  impulse  of  a  man.  He  has  written  to  the  Government, 
earnestly  imploring  a  removal  of  the  interdict. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  clear  that  the  tribes  within  our  jurisdic- 
tion have  no  right  to  indulge  in  the  spirit  of  reprisals  which  they 
manifest  either  towards  ourselves  or  each  other.  When  they  have 
complaints  against  the  laws  or  any  proceedings  of  the  Government, 
they  should  set  forth  their  grievances  in  a  proper  manner.  And 
no  men  know  better  the  force  and  virtue  of  law  than  some  of  the 
powerful  chiefs  who  preside  over  these  tribes.  Neither  Boyer  nor 
any  other  chief  has  any  right  to  execute  our  laws,  or  to  set  up  his 
authority  against  the  majesty  of  the  Republic. 

But  these  chiefs  and  their  subjects  have,  undoubtedly,  certain 
rights,  both  natural  and  political,  which  should  be  highly  respected 
by  this  Government  and  people.  And  when  this  is  done,  and  the 
natives  are  not  provoked  by  us  to  the  commission  of  lawless  deeds, 
or  instigated  by  dishonorable  foreigners  to  insubordination,  there 
will  subsist  between  us  and  them  a  permanent  good  understanding 
and  the  greatest  cordiality  of  feeling. 

Murder  at  Settra  Kroo.  —  Sometime  in  the  month  of  Oc- 
tober last,  one  James  Douglas,  of  Greenville,  Sinou,  was  wantonly 
murdered  at  Settra  Kroo,  by  a  native  of  that  place.  Immediately 
after  intelligence  of  the  tragical  afiair  reached  the  Government,  I 
sent  down  to  Sinou  a  proclamation,  interdicting  all  intercourse  with 
Settra  Kroo  until  such  time  as  satisfaction  should  be  given  for  the 
murder  committed.  By  the  vessel  bringing  the  legislators  to  this 
city,  I  received  a  communication  from  the  King  and  head  men  of 
Settra  Kroo,  assuring  the  Government  that  the  murderer  shall  be 
delivered  up  to  justice  as  soon  as  he  can  be  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  Nanna  Kroo  natives. 

Seizure  for  Violating  Revenue  Law.  —  Presuming  upon 
another  illustration  of  the  might  of  the  British  naval  force  on  this 
coast  over  the  just  riglits  of  the  Republic,  one  J.  M.  Harris,  a  sub- 
ject of  Her  Britannic  Majesty's  Government,  who  has  for  some 


ANNUAL  MESSAGE   OF  PRESIDENT  WARNER.  173 

time  kept  a  trading  establishment  at  Solyma  contrary  to  the  laws 
of  the  Republic,  arrogantly  sent,  a  few  weeks  ago,  his  vessel  into 
the  little  Cape  Mount  River  to  prosecute  a  trade  with  the  abori- 
gines of  that  place,  as  if  to  see  how  far  and  with  how  much  im- 
punity he  could  contravene  the  laws  of  the  Republic.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  this  vessel  is  one  of  the  two  that  were  brought 
into  this  port  from  Solyma  by  the  gunboat  "Quail,"  in  1860,  to  be 
tried  for  trading  at  that  place  contrary  to  our  revenue  laws,  but 
were  forcibly  taken  out  of  our  harbor  by  Her  Britannic  Majesty's 
cruiser  "  Torch."  The  vessel,  having  been  seized  by  order  of  the 
Government,  has  been  brought  to  this  port,  and  now  lies  in  the 
river  awaiting  the  investigation  of  her  case  by  the  proper  authori- 
ties. 

Proposal  for  a  Bank.  —  In  connection  with  the  subject  of 
finance,  I  have  further  to  inform  you  that  the  plan  proposed  by 
Messrs.  McFarlan  &  Co.,  of  London,  for  transacting  financial  busi- 
ness for  this  Government,  and  which  was  adopted  by  you  at  your  last 
session,  has  not  been  acted  upon  by  that  firm  ;  they  preferring  to 
operate  on  a  totally  diflerent  basis,  merging  their  i^roposal  into  the 
plan  of  a  bank,  of  which  the  details  will  be  duly  laid  before  you. 

Codification  of  the  Laws.  —  The  revision  and  compilation 
of  our  statute  laws,  which  are  at  present  in  such  inconvenient 
publications,  require  your  authorization.  I  have  to  solicit  an  ap- 
propriation for  this  object. 

Education.  —  During  the  year,  Liberia  College  has  continued 
in  operation.  The  Preparatory  Department,  under  the  care  of 
Mr.  H.  R.  W.  Johnson,  has  given  the  greatest  satisfaction  in  the 
training  of  its  scholars. 

In  connection  with  this  I  am  happy  to  inform  you,  that  we  have 
intelligence  from  the  United  States  of  a  growing  and  active  spirit 
of  emigration  to  Africa  among  the  blacks.  In  a  week  or  two, 
some  five  or  six  hundred  will  probably  be  landed  on  our  shores. 
The  Attorney  General  of  this  Republic,  now  on  his  way  home, 
made  an   interesting  tour,  during  the  last  summer,  over  a  portion 


174  AMERICA!^  COLONIZATION  SOCIETY, 

of  the  "Western  States ;  and  he  assures  us,  that,  from  what  he  has 
witnessed  among  the  blacks  with  whom  he  came  into  contact,  a 
steady  stream  of  emigration  has  just  begun.  We  are  doubtless  all 
glad  to  receive  such  intelligence.  But  the  question  that  occurs  to 
every  thoughtful  mind  is.  Can  Liberia,  with  her  feeble  institutions, 
take  up  and  absorb  safely  this  influx  of  our  down-trodden  breth- 
ren, unaccustomed  as  they  are  to  the  duties  and  responsibilities 
of  building  up  new  States?  I  answer,  without  hesitation,  that 
we  can.  But  it  becomes  us,  as  legislators,  and  executors  of  law, 
to  make  provisions  to  guard  and  perpetuate  more  effectually  the 
liberties  of  our  country.  And,  among  the  provisions  necessary,  a 
most  important,  and,  indeed,  indispensable  one,  is  the  establishment 
of  an  eificient  common-school  system.  We  have  in  our  statute 
books  many  laws  referring  to  common  schools,  but  they  need  re- 
vision and  consolidation.  Depend  upon  it,  unless  this  matter  is 
attended  to,  our  free  institutions  will  be  in  danger.  Let  knowledge 
be  generally  diffused,  and  we  need  not  fear  the  debates  and  dis- 
cussions which  2>eriodically  take  place  among  us  as  to  our  political 
affairs. 

But  the  diffusion  of  education  among  us  Avdll,  for  some  time,  be 
dependent  chiefly  upon  legislative  action  in  the  establishment  and 
maintenance,  throughout  the  country,  of  common  schools.  The 
Government  must  here,  as  in  other  countries,  take  this  subject  into 
its  hands,  —  a  subject  which,  to  my  mind,  involves  the  whole  mat- 
ter of  what  is  generally  termed  popular  education,  comprising  not 
only  schools  established  by  the  Government,  but  also  mission 
schools  in  our  townships  or  within  our  jurisdiction. 

System  of  Common  Schools.  —  By  having  the  education  of 
the  people  under  some  system  —  I  mean  something  like  the  fol- 
lowing—  so  as  always  to  keep  the  subject  of  education  promi- 
nently before  the  people  :  — 

1.  Let  the  different  counties  be  divided  into  school  districts, 
and  let  the  peo])le  in  those  districts  be  taxed  to  provide  school- 
houses  and  help  to  support  the  schools,  the  Govern  incut  furnish- 
ini;  a  certain  amount. 


ANNUAL  MESSAGE   OF  PRESIDENT   WAENEE.  175 

2.  Let  a  Secretary  of  Education  be  appointed,  to  regulate  the 
educational  interests  of  the  country,  in  connection,  if  thought  ad- 
visible,  with  a  committee  of  Council.  All  appointments  of  in- 
structors to  common  schools  to  be  made  by  the  Secretary,  with 
the  advice  of  the  Council ;  and  no  teacher  to  be  appointed  with 
out  a  certificate  of  capability  from  recognized  examiners,  i.e., 
any  of  the  professors  in  Liberia  College,  or  any  other  well-known 
instructor. 

3.  School  teachers  to  be  examined  twice  a  year  by  the  Secretary 
of  Education  or  his  deputy. 

4.  Provision  to  be  made  for  schools  for  girls,  in  which,  besides 
mere  book  learning,  they  may  be  taught  domestic  economy  and 
general  habits  of  industry.  This  is  a  sore  and  pressing  need  of 
Liberia. 

5.  Children  of  the  aborigines  in  our  settlements  and  their  neigh- 
borhood to  have  the  same  rights  to  education  as  emigrants ;  and  the 
Government  to  have  the  right  to  establish  schools  in  purely 
heathen  districts. 

Our  brethren  who  flee  from  the  United  States  to  this  country 
for  freedom,  find,  on  arriving  here,  a  large  and  superabundant  free- 
dom ;  but  they  lose  the  advantages  of  enlarged  education  afforded 
them  in  their  native  country,  —  advantages  which,  since  the  war, 
have  been  increasing  in  various  parts  of  the  United  States.  It 
is  therefore  meet  and  proper  that  in  a  system  of  common  schools, 
such  as  I  have  just  referred  to,  efiiciently  established,  they 
should  find  some  compensation  for  the  sacrifices  they  have  vol- 
untarily made. 

Pension  Recommended.  —  Before  closing  this  statement,  I 
would  request  for  Jonas  Carey  a  stated  pension  during  his  life- 
time. He  is  one  of  the  only  three  male  pioneers  of  Liberia  sur- 
viving, and  connecting  the  present  with  the  past.  He  took  part 
in  the  memorable  battle  of  Dec.  1,  1822,  on  the  issue  of  which  de- 
pended the  question  whether  Christian  civilization  should  be  estab- 
lished on   this  coast  by  black  colonists  from  America,  or  not.     He 


176  AMERICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

is  now  aged  and  feeble,  and  deserves  whatever  aid  or  patronage 
the  government  can  render  him. 

Conclusion.  —  And  now,  in  conclusion,  I  beg  to  assure  you  of 
the  cordiality  and  cheerfulness  with  which  I  will  co-operate  with 
you  in  any  measure  for  the  promotion  of  the  public  weal.  In  all 
your  deliberations,  fail  not  to  keep  steadily  before  your  mind  the 
great  object  we  should  all  have  in  view,  viz  —  the  vindication,  up- 
building, and  honor  of  the  negro  race,  and  the  opening  up  of  this 
great  continent  to  civilization  and  religion.  Kee2:)ing  this  elevated 
and  glorious  aim  always  before  you,  your  labors  will  be  consider- 
ably lightened,  and  hannony,  peace,  and  fraternal  feelings  will 
mark  your  whole  intercourse  during  the  session. 

D.  B.  Warner. 
Monrovia,  Dec.  6,  1866. 


CHIEF    MAGISTRATES    OF    LIBERIA. 


This  table  is  believed  to  include  the  names  of  all  persons  who 
were  ever  authorized  to  act  as  chief  magistrates  of  Liberia.  The 
original  plan  was,  that  an  agent  appointed  by  the  Colonization 
Society  should  be  the  chief  magistrate,  and  an  agent  appointed  by 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  should  have  the  care  of  the 
recaptured  Africans :  but  the  same  person  often  held  both  offices  ; 
and  there  seems  to  have  been  an  understanding,  that,  when  either 
agent  was  absent,  his  duties  should  devolve  on  the  other.  After 
the  adoption  of  the  constitution  proposed  by  Mr.  Gurley,  August, 
1824,  the  duties  of  the  Society's  agent,  in  his  absence,  devolved  on 
a  vice-agent,  elected  by  the  people.  After  July,  1836,  the  Society's 
agent  was  styled  governor,  and  the  vice-agent,  lieutenant  gov- 
ernor. Since  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  in  1847,  presidents 
have  been  elected  by  the  people.  The  names  of  all  who  are  known 
to  have  acted  as  chief  magistrates  by  authority  from  the  Society 
or  by  popular  election  are  placed  in  small  capitals.  The  names 
of  agents  of  the  United  States  Government,  who  may  have  some- 
times acted  in  that  capacity,  are  placed  in  other  type.  The  dates 
are  given  with  as  much  completeness  as  has  been  practicable.  Two 
agents  of  the  Society  and  two  of  the  Government  died  before  the 
removal  from  Sierra  Leone  to  Cape  Mesurado ;  but  their  names 
none  the  less  deserve  to  be  retained.  The  names  of  physicians 
appointed  by  the  Government  or  the  Society,  who  may  have  acted 
as  agents  in  case  of  necessity,  are  also  given, 

23 


178  AMEEICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

Dr.  Samuel  A.  Ckozer.  —  Instructions  dated  Dec.  10,  1819; 
sailed  Feb.  6,  1820;  died  April  15,  1820. 

Rev.  Samuel  Bacon. — Appointed  Jan.  8,  1820;  sailed  Feb.  6, 
1820;  died  May  21,  1820. 

John  P.  Bankson.  — Sailed  Feb.  6,  1820;  died  May  13,  1820. 

Rev.  Daxiel  Coker,  emigrant.  —  Appointed  by  Dr.  Crozer, 
just  before  his  death  ;  he  was  the  Society's  agent  at  Campelar,  and 
at  Fourah  Bay,  Sierra  Leone,  where  he  remained  when  the  other 
colonists  removed  to  Cape  Mesurado. 

Rev.  Ephraim  Bacon.  — Sailed  Jan.  23,  1821;  returned  1821. 

Jonathan  B.  Winn.  —  Sailed  Jan.  23,  died  Aug.  25,  1821. 

Rev.  Joseph  Akdeus. —  Sailed  Jan.  23,  died  July  28,  1821. 

Christian  Witlberger.  —  Sailed  Jan.  23,  1821 ;  returned 
June  4,  1822. 

Dr.  Eli  Ayres. — Appointed  July  25,  1821;  acquired  Cape 
Mesurado  Dec.  15,  1821,  and  removed  the  colonists  thither;  ap- 
pointed United-States  Government  agent.  May  15,  1822;  returned 
June  4,  1822;  sailed  again  May  24;  and  returned  December,  1823. 

Elijah  Johnsox,  emigrant.  —  Appointed  by  Dr.  Ayres  as  So- 
ciety's agent  during  his  absence,  from  June  4,  1822. 

Rev.  Jehudi  Ashmun.  —  Agent  for  the  Society  and  the  Govern- 
ment, sailed  May  20,  1822;  appointment  confirmed,  under  the  new 
constitution,  August  1824;  sailed,  on  his  return,  March  25,  1828; 
died  Aug.  25,  1828. 

Rev.  R.  R.  GuRLEY.  —  Agent  of  the  Society  and  Government, 
arrived  Aug.  13, 1824;  confirmed  Ashmun's  authority,  under  a  new 
constitution,  and  returned  Aug.  22,  1824. 

Dr.  John  W.  Peaco. —Arrived  March  26, 1826;  returned  1826. 

Dr.  George  P.  Todsen.  —  Appointed  June,  1827  ;  afterwards  ap- 
pointed Society's  physician,  Nov.  17,  1830,  to  1834. 

Rev.  Lot  Gary,  emigrant.  —  Vice-agent,  administered  from 
Mr.  Ashmun's  departure,  March  25,  1828;  died  Nov.  8,  1828. 

Rev.  Colston  M.  Waring,  emigrant.  — -  From  Nov.  8  to  Dec. 
22,  1828. 


CHIEF  MAGISTRATES   OF  LIBERIA.  179 

Dr.  Richard  Randall.  —  Ajipointed  by  the  Society  Sept.  8, 
and  by  the  Government  October,  1828 ;  arrived  Dec.  22,  1828; 
died  April  19,  1829. 

Dr.  Joseph  Mechlin. — Appointed  assistant  agent  and  physi- 
cian Oct.  17,  1828;  succeeded  Dr.  Randall  April  19,  1829;  ap- 
pointed agent  Sept.  14,  1829;  appointed  Government  agent  to 
succeed  Dr.  Randall;  returned  May,  1830;  sailed  again  October, 
1830;  returned  July,  1832. 

Dr.  J.  W.  Anderson.  —  Appointed  assistant  agent  and  physi- 
cian Jan.  1,  1830;  arrived  Feb.  27;  died  April  20,  1830. 

Anthony  D.  Williams,  emigrant.  —  Vice-agent,  administered 
in  Dr.  Mechlin's  absence  in  1830,  and  after  his  departure  in  1832. 

Rev.  John  B.  Pinney.  —  Appointed  Oct.  24,  1833;  from  ill 
health,  transferred  his  duties  to  Dr.  Skinner  in  the  summer  of  1834. 

Dr.  EzEKiEL  Skinner.  —  Sailed  as  Society's  i^hysician  June  21, 
1834;  appointed  agent  Jan.  26,  1835;  returned  late  in  1836;  again 
appointed  physician  Oct.  27,  1837. 

Anthony  D.  Williams. —  Formerly  vice-agent,  succeeded  Dr. 
Skinner  in  1836. 

Thomas  Buchanan. — Appointed  governor,  Dec.  10,  1838,  on 
the  union  of  the  settlement  of  the  New- York  and  Pennsylva- 
nia Societies  with  the  Commonwealth  of  Liberia.  Also  United- 
States  Government  agent.  Arrived  April  1,  1839 ;  died  Sept.  3, 
1841.    The  last  white  chief  magistrate. 

Dr.  J.  W.  Lugenbeel,  Society's  j^hysician,  and  Government 
agent.  Appointed  by  the  Society  July  27,  1843  ;  sailed  Sept.  16, 
1843  ;  returned  May,  1849. 

Joseph  J.  Roberts,  emigrant.  —  Succeeded  Gov.  Buchanan,  as 
lieut. -governor,  Sept.  3. 1841 ;  appointed  governor  Jan,  20, 1842  ; 
administered  till  the  organization  of  the  Republic,  Jan.  3,  1848. 

Joseph  J.  Roberts,  emigrant,  president,  1848  to  1856. 

Stephen  A.  Benson,  emigrant,  president,  1856  to  1864. 

Daniel  B.  Warner,  emigrant,  president,  1864. 


180  AMEKICAN   COLONIZATION   SOCIETY. 

GOVERNORS  OP^  MARYLAND  IN  LIBERIA. 

Dr.  James  Hall.  —  Founder  and  first  governor.  Appointed  by 
tlie  Maryland  Colonization  Society,  October,  1833  ;  sailed  Nov.  23, 
1833;  purchased  Cape  Palmas,  the  site  of  the  colony,  by  treaty, 
Feb.  13,  1834 ;  resigned,  and  returned  July,  1836.  Dr.  Hall  had 
been  assistant  physician  in  Liberia  from  October,  1831,  to  June, 
1833.  As  early  as  1832,  he  urged  the  appointment  of  colored 
governors. 

Dr.  O.  W.  Holmes,  temporary  agent,  a  few  months  from  June, 
1836. 

John  B.  Russwurm,  emigrant. —  Appointed  1836;  died  June 
9,  1851. 

Dr.  Samuel  F.  McGill,  emigrant.  —  Succeeded  Gov.  Russ- 
wurm  in  1851 ;  administered  to  June,  1854. 

William  A.  Pbout,  emigrant.  —  Elected  governor  under  the 
new  Constitution  of  the  colony  as  an  independent  state.  Inaugu- 
rated, June  6,  1854;  administered  till  April,  1856. 

Boston  J.  Dratton,  emigrant.  —  As  lieutenant  governor,  he 
succeeded  Gov.  Prout  in  Ajml,  1856,  and  administered  till  the 
annexation  of  the  State  to  the  Republic  of  Liberia,  March  3,  1857. 

GOVERNORS  AT  BASSA  COVE. 

Rev.  Rufus  Spalding.  —  The  New-York  Colonization  Society, 
Dec.  13,  1833,  while  he  was  on  his  voyage  to  Liberia  as  a  mission- 
ary, appointed  him  as  their  special  agent  to  plant  a  new  settle- 
ment under  their  auspices.  He  arrived  at  Monrovia  Dec.  31, 
1833 ;  had  the  ordering  of  the  erection  of  mission  buildings  at 
Bassa  Cove,  but  was  unable,  from  sickness,  to  visit  that  place.  He 
returned  in  May,  1834. 

Israel  W.  Searle.  —  Appointed  by  the  same  Society  as  sub-agent, 
Feb.  17,  1834.  He  was  instructed  to  consult  with  Mr.  Spalding 
as  to  a  location   fur  the  pro])osed  settlement,  and   to  direct  their 


CHIEF  MAGISTRATES    OF   LIBERIA.  181 

attention  to  Cape  Mount  and  Bassa  Cove.  He  sailed  June  23, 
1834,  and  died  in  a  few  weeks  after  his  arrival.  That  Society  had 
already  sent  out  a  few  emigrants. 

Edward  Y.  Hankinson.  —  Appointed  by  the  Pennsylvania 
Colonization  Society;  sailed  Oct.  24,  1834,  with  emigrants  to 
found  a  colony  at  Bassa  Cove.  The  two  Societies  were  then 
negotiating  on  terms  of  co-operation. 

Thomas  Buchanan.  —  Appointed  by  the  united  Societies  ;  ar- 
rived at  Monrovia  Jan.  1,  1836. 

Rev.  John  J.  Matthias.  —  Appointed  by  the  united  Societies; 
arrived  Aug.  4,  1837  ;  returned,  landing  at  New- York  June  17, 
1838. 

Dr.  Wesley  Johnsok.  —  Succeeded  Gov.  Matthias  as  acting 
governor ;  administered  till  all  the  settlements  were  united  under 
Gov.  Buchanan  in  1839. 

MISSISSIPPI  COLONY  AT  SINOU. 

Rev.  JosiAH  F.  C.  FiNLET. — Appointed  by  the  Mississippi 
Colonization  Society ;  sailed  April,  1837  ;  robbed  and  murdered 
by  natives,  while  on  a  journey,  September,  1838.  The  settlement 
was  united  with  the  Commonwealth  of  Liberia  in  1839. 


182 


AMERICAN    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY. 


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TABLE    OF    EMIGRANTS. 


183 


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by 
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Date  of 

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April, '30 
Nov.,  '30 
Dec,  '30 

Jan.,   '31 
July,  '31 
Oct.,   '31 
Dec,  '31 

Jan.,   '32 
May,  '32 
July,   '32 
Nov.,  '32 
Dec,  '32 
Dec,  '32 
Doc,  '32 

Mar.,  '33 
May,  '33 
Oct.,   '33 
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184 


AMKRICAX    COLOXIZATIDN    SOCIETY 


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TABLE    OF    EMIGRANTS. 


185 


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AMERICAN    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY. 


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Jan.,  '47 
Sept.,  '47 

Jan.,   '48 
Feb.,  '48 
April,  '48 
May,  '48 
Sept.,  '48 

Jan..    '49 

^^'t't      inininmmin      ir 

in 

Names  of 
Vessels. 

Mary  Wilkes .... 
Liberia  Packet  . . 

Nehemiah  Rich. . 

Liberia  Packet  . . 

Col.  Howard 

Liberia  Packet  . . 

O   c   C 

3Qtr 

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Liberia  Packet  . . 
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TABLE    OF    EMIGRANTS. 


187 


Total 
Years. 

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"S  >>i^-s 6    J ss >" >" >" 6  %  ^ i >' >  J   > ^J 

Names  of 
Vessels. 

-J 

3Ss 

Morgan  Dix  . . . 
Liberia  Packet  . 

5    O 

Jos.  Maxwell  . . 
Linila  Stewart. . 

Shirley 

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188 


AMERICAN    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY. 


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Date  of 
Sailing. 

Nov.,  '54 
Dec,  '54 

May,  '55 
Nov.,  '55 
Dec,  '55 

May,  '56 
Dec,  '56 

May,  '57 
Dec,  '57 

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Dec,  '58 

April, '59 
May,  '59 
May,  '59 
Nov.,  '59 

Names  of 
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a. 
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is 

>    0 

Elvira  Owen . . . 
M.  C.  Stevens. . 

M.  C.  Stevens., 
M.  C.  Stevens . . 

G.  T.  Ackerly. . 
M.  C.  Stevens. . 

Morgan 

M.  C.  Stevens. . 

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TABLE    OF    EMIGRANTS. 


189 


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190 


AMERICAN    COLONIZATION    SOCIETY. 


Total 

bv 
Years. 

CI 

2 

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1 

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to 

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63  36 

Date  of 
Sailing. 

Mar.,  '66 
Nov.,  '66 
Dec.,  '66 
Dec.,  '66 

O        en 

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c 

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y,  g  ^  >  t-  S^  1^'"  .-'^"'ti  o -2 '7i  ■-  a 


COST  OF  AFRICAN   COLONIZATION. 


The  following  Tabic  will  show  the  Annual  Keceipts  of  the  American  Coloniza- 
tion Society  during  the  fifty  years  of  its  existence. 


Years.  Receipts. 

1817-9 $14,031    50 

1820-2 5,627  66 

1823 4,758  22 

1824 4,379  89 

1825 10,125  85 

1826 14,779  24 

1827 13,294  94 

1828 13,458  17 

1829 20,295  61 

1830 26,683  41 

1831   32,101   58 

1832 43,065  08 

1833 37,242  46 

1834 22,984  30 

1835 36,661  49 

1836 33,096  88 

1837 25,558  14 

1838 10,947  41 

1839 51,498  36 

1840 56,985  62 

1841 42,443  68 

1842 32,898  88 

1843 36,093  94 

1844 33,640  39 

1845 56,458  60 

1846 39,900  03 

1847 , 29,472  84 

1848 49,845  91 

1849 50,332  84 

1850 64,973  71 

1851   97,443  77 

1852 86,775  74 


Years.  Receipts. 

18.53 $82,458  25 

1854 65,433  93 

1855 55,276  89 

1856 81,384  41 

1857 97,384  84 

1858 61,820  19 

1859 160,303  23 

1860 104,546  92 

1861 75,470  74 

1862 46,208  46 

1863 50,900  36 

1864 79,454  70 

1865 23,633  37 

1866 59,375  14 

$2,141,507  77 

The  Maryland  State  So- 
ciety, since  its  organiza- 
tion, received $309,759  33 

The  New- York  State  So- 
ciety and  Pennsylvania 
Society,  during  their 
independent  condition, 
received 95,640  00 

Tlie  Mississippi  Society, 
during  its  independent 
operations,  received. . .        12,000  00 


Making  a  total  to  Janu- 
ary 1,  1867 .^ $2,558,907  10 


(191) 


ORIGINAL  MEMBERS   OF   THE   SOCIETY. 


H.  Clay, 

E.  B.  Caldwell, 

Tho.  Dougherty, 

Stephen  B.  Balch, 

Juo.  Chalmers,  Jun., 

Thos.  Patterson, 

John  Randolph  of  Roanoke, 

Robt.  H.  Goldsborough, 

William  Thornton, 

George  Clarke, 

James  Laurie, 

J.  I.  Stull, 

Dan'l  Webster, 

J.  C.  Herbert, 

Wm.  Simmons, 

E.  Forman, 

Ferd'no.  Fairfax, 

V.  Maxcy, 

Jno.  Loockerman, 

Jno.  Woodside, 

William  Dudley  Digges, 

Thomas  Carberry, 

Samuel  J.  Mills, 

Goo.  A.  Carroll, 

W.  G.  D.  Worthington, 


John  Lee, 
Richard  Bland  Lee, 
1).  Murray, 
Robert  Finley, 
B.  Allison, 
B.  L.  Lear, 
W.  Jones, 
J.  Mason, 
Mord.  Booth, 
J.  S.  Shaaf, 
Geo.  Peter, 
John  Tayloe, 
Overton  Carr, 
P.  H.  Wendover, 
F.  S.  Key, 
Charles  Marsh, 
David  M.  Forest, 
John  Wiley, 
Nathan  Luf  borough, 
William  Meade, 
William  11.  Wilmer, 
George  Travers, 
Edm.  I.  Lee, 
John  P.  Todd, 
Bushrod  Washington. 


DATE  DUE 

PwiiTfflll^ 

UM-'t^ 

«4ftfiQ 

J^I^^Jt^ 

hSIIiVtf 

CAYLORD 

PKJNTEO  IN  U.S.A. 

ffT^ 


